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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by HUBBARD BROTHERS, in the Office of the Librarian ot Congress, Washington, D. C. 



A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THEIR 



f 



THE JEWISH TABERNACLE AND PRIESTHOOD; 



V 






DESIGN AND TYPICAL SIGNIFICATION. ILLUSTRATED. 



BY REV. GEORGE C. NEEDHAM. 



As the reader advances with the exposition he will find it profitable to examine the accompanying plates, illustrative of the Tabernacle, its vessels and surroundings, with those of the High Priest 

in his " linen " rubes, and in his "garments of beauty and glory." 



81 



In order to have a clear and systematic knowledge of the 
precious aspects of Divine truth, couched in the types of the 
Old Testament, it is necessary tc> have a proper understanding 
of the type or figure introduced. Some of these types seem 
fragmentary, scattered along the historical portions of the 
Word. These fragments must be brought together, that each 
type may be viewed in its 1 entirety, and present to the mind 
their proper and symmetrical form. By reference, allusion, 
comparison, or contrast, the antitypical parallel will be dis- 
covered. In this department of investigation one needs the 
presence of God's Holy Spirit to produce soberness of judg- 
ment, and perseverance in a careful comparison of type and 
antitype. 

Frequently^types have J but one story to relate ; one feature 
of the Gospel to portray ; one prominent thought to furnish ; 
one doctrinal truth to unfold. When strained beyond their 
proper design, erroneous conclusions will be reached. Mere 
speculation on their meaning, without clear warrant from the 
Word, will lead to heresy and confusion. 
f> The application of the brazen serpent, and its virtue in heal- 
% ing the bitten Israelites, is applied to Christ as the Saviour 
from sin. We need not, therefore, speculate on its illustrative 
teaching, as now we understand its proper application. Thus 
we are warranted to use those symbols, to which the Spirit 
calls attention in that inspired Word of Scripture which 
is "profitable for doctrine, for conviction, for correction, for 
discipline which is in righteousness : that the man of God 
may be complete, thoroughly furnished unto .every good 
work." 

Chief among the types, and occupying more space than all 
others, is the Tabernacle of Israel, with its vessels, priests, 
services, and worship. It is not one type, illustrating one 
phase of Gospel truth, but many types in one symmetrical 
whole, expressing the full Gospel of Christ, even the Gospel 
of our Salvation. Like the kaleidoscope, exhibiting its mul- 
tiplied colors, and filling the eye with its ever-varying beau- 
ties, is the subject of this article. The Tabernacle, to the eye 
of faith, displays the hidden riches of Christ, portrays His 
manifold glories, illustrates the excellencies and characteristics 
of His Person, and points to the accomplished work of Re- 
demption effected upon the cross. The Tabernacle, in its 
typical signification, occupies a wide range of truth, and is a 
fruitful theme of meditation. It is my purpose, however, in 



the present exposition, to confine myself to those parts of the 
Tabernacle which unfold two great foundation truths, viz. : 
The Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And 
heartily do I wish my reader to be saved from idle curiosity, 
or a mere intellectual appreciation of these things. I earnestly 
seek your spiritual profit, and the glory of God in your salva- 
tion and sanctification. 

MATERIAL CONSTRUCTION. 

The superstructure of the Tabernacle proper consisted of 
forty-eight boards of shittim, or acacia wood, standing 
erect, in sockets of silver. Twenty of these formed the 
south wall, twenty the north wall, and eight the west wall. 
These boards were overlaid with gold. Bars ran through 
rincrs on the outside of the boards, and one from end to end 
through the centre of the boards, thus binding them together, 
and giving firmness to the whole. (Ex. xxvi. 1 5-30 ; xxxvi. 
20-34.) The door of entrance was at its eastern end, where 
five pillars stood upright in silver sockets, and from the 
top of which hung a beautiful curtain of fine linen, inter- 
woven with colors of blue, purple and scarlet. (Ex. xxvi. 

36, 37-) 

The length of the Tabernacle was thirty cubits. Its breadth 
is not so easily ascertained, as two of the boards forming the 
west wall were placed in the corners in such a position as to 
ensure strength and firmness. It is generally admitted that 
the breadth was ten cubits. This building was divided into 
two rooms, by four pillars, from the top of which was sus- 
pended a curtain similar to the' one called the door, but hav- 
ing, in addition, figures of the cherubim interwoven with its 
texture. This curtain was called the vail. (Ex. xxvi. 30- 
The first room, which was twenty cubits in length, was called 
"The Holy Place." The second, or inner room, being a 
square, was called "The Holiest of All," or "Most Holy 
Place." 

In the Holy Place were arranged the Altar o\ \nccn>c. the 
Golden Candlestick, and the Table of Shew Bread. In the 
Most Holy Place was the Ark. Mercy Seat, and Cherubim. 

The ceiling and roof of this holy house were composed ot 
curtains and coverings. Those inside, oC great richness and 
beauty. Those outside, of a more enduring character. A full 
description of those coverings is found in Ex. xxvi. I — I S- 

1 



-^ .N4- 



THE JEWISH TABERNACLE AND PRIESTHOOD. 



They were arranged in the following order: First, the fine 
linen curtains, figured with cherubim, and ornamented with 
gold, and brilliant colors of blue, purple and scarlet. These 
formed the ceiling. Next over them were curtains of goats' 
hair. Over those were coverings of rams' skins, dyed red, and 
badgers' skins, which were more for protection than beauty. 

The Tabernacle was surrounded by a court — a double 
square one hundred cubits in length and fifty in width. This 
court was formed by pillars, standing erect in sockets of brass, 
i Ex, xxvii. 9-18.) There were twenty on the south side, 
twenty on the north, and ten each on the east and west ends. 
The pillars were ornamented on the tops with silver chapiters 
and hooks. From those depended linen curtains, which went 
all around the court, forming a wall or fence. It is supposed 
that these curtains were of open network, affording the wor- 
shippers outside an opportunity of witnessing the transactions 
transpiring within the enclosure, I am inclined to think a 
more durable and closely-woven fabric was needed. The gate 
of the court was the proper place for worshippers to assem- 
ble. The hangings of the gate at the eastern side were 
similar to the door of the Tabernacle, being embroidered with 
blue, purple and scarlet threads. 

Within this enclosure were two prominent objects besides 
the Tabernacle. The Brazen Altar, standing near the gate of 
the court, and between it and the door of the Tabernacle the 
Brazen Laver, 

The Brazen Altar stood fronting the gate of the court, be- 
tween it and the Tabernacle. It was made of the shittim, or 
acacia wood, and covered with plates of brass. It was five 
cubits long, five cubits broad, and three cubits high. (Ex. 
xxvii. 1-8 ; xxxviii. 1-7.) There were horns on the four 
corners, and a network of brass within the hollow enclosure, 
forming a foundation for the fire, on which the sacrifices were 
laid. This was the grate of the altar. There were rings 
placed on its sides through which staves were passed. Ani- 
mals were constantly burned on this altar for sacrifice, and its 
fire was never suffered to go out. When the Israelites jour- 
neyed, the fire was probably placed in a fire-pan, or preserved 
in some other way. A purple cloth was then spread on top 
of the altar, on which the bowls, basins, flesh-hooks, shovels, 
and other utensils accompanying it, were placed. Over all 
was thrown a covering of badger skins, and thus it was con- 
veyed from place to place, the staves resting on the shoulders 
of men appointed for that purpose. 

The Brazen Laver is the next object within the court, and 
i. supposed to have stood midway between the altar and the 
door of the Tabernacle. (Ex. xl. 7.) As its object was to 
hold pure water, that the priests may wash thereat before 
ring the sanctuary, perhaps it was nearer the door of the 
Tabernacle. (Ex. XXX. 17-21.) Neither the form or size of 
this vessel is given, but its material was brass, having been 
mad'- out of the brazen mirrors, or looking-glasses of the 
Jewish women, which they, in self-denial, but voluntarily, 
their offerings to the house of the Lord. (Ex. xxxviii. 8.) 



THE ENCAMPMENT. 

We now look outside the court, east, west, north, south, and 
view, spreading abroad in every direction, the encampment of 
Israel. It was square in form. The first line of tents were 
those of the Levites. That tribe was chosen for the special 
services of the Tabernacle, and from this tribe was the family 
of Priests appointed. The tents of the Priests were pitched 
before the gate, at the east side, and at a considerable distance 
from it. Here also was the tent of Moses. (Numb. iii. 38.) 
On the south side were the tents of the Kohathites, one branch 
of the Levite tribe. They had charge of all the furniture ; 
the Ark, Altars, Table of Shew Bread, Golden Candlestick, 
Laver, etc. These they brought on their shoulders. (Numb, 
iii. 31.) On the north side were pitched the tents of the 
Merarites, who had charge of the heavy framework, pillars, 
bars, sockets, etc. To convey all this material, they were 
allowed four wagons, drawn by eight oxen. (Numb. iii. 36, etc.) 
On the west side were the tents of the Gershonites. Their 
charge included all the curtains, coverings, vails, and hang- 
ings of the court. They were allowed two wagons, drawn by 
four horses, for conveying them. (Numb. iii. 24, etc. ; vii. 6-10.) 
Thus the tribe of Levi furnished 8580 males above the age 
of thirty, who were the guardians of the Holy Tent and its 
appurtenances; ministers of the sanctuary (Numb. iv. 47,48) ; 
assisting the priests in their sacred duties (Numb. iii. 9); 
laborers to take apart or erect the Tabernacle (Numb. i. 51), 
or transport it across the untravelled desert. (Numb, iv.) 

Still further outside the Levitical line of tents, stretchine 
into the distance on either side, were the tents of the twelve 
tribes. When Levi was chosen to be relatively near the Lord 
in this service, the tribe of Joseph was divided into two, called 
after the names of his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Thus 
there were twelve tribes as before. These tribes were formed 
into four large companies, each company embracing three 
tribes, with their chiefs, captains, and standards. 

On the east was the camp of Judah, comprising the tribes 
of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. (Numb. ii. 2-10.) The 
camp of Reuben occupied the south. This included the tribes 
of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. (Numb. ii. 10-17.) On the 
cast lay the tents of Ephraim's camp, which was composed 
of the three tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. 
(Numb. ii. 18-28.) The tribes of Dan, Naphtali, and Asher, 
formed the camp of Dan, and pitched their tents at the north 
side. (Numb. ii. 25-29.) There were, therefore, four great 
camps, one on each side of the Tabernacle, including in their 
population 603,550 adult males, who constituted the standing 
army of Israel. 

THE CLOUD. 

When the Tabernacle was first reared, according to the 
commandment of the Lord, the pillar of cloud rested upon it, 
"and the cloud was on it by night and by day, in the sight of 
all Israel," This cloud, which assumed a pillar-like shape, 



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THE JEWISH TABERNACLE AND PRIESTHOOD. 



resting on the Tabernacle, spread over the heavens above it, 
and covered the whole encampment, thus sheltering it from 
the scorching rays of the desert sun. (Ps. cv. 39.) At night 
it became brilliantly illuminated, as a cloud of fire, to give light 
by night to the people. (Numb. ix. 15-23.) 

I have now given my reader a brief description of the type 
itself — the Tabernacle of Israel in the wilderness. We have 
looked at its external form and internal arrangements. It 
must have been a stirring sight to have looked upon it really. 
To have gazed from the top of some near mountain, and 
noticed the camps, tribes, and companies, with their ensigns, 
banners, and colors ; the squares, avenues, and divisions ; the 
Levitical tents, Court, smoking Altar, and Tabernacle, with its 
Cloud of brightness, might well stir the heart of the be- 
holder. 

When Balaam, the wicked prophet, looked upon this scene, 
he exclaimed : " How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob ! and thy 
tabernacles, O Israel ! As the valleys are they spread forth 
by the rivers' side, as the trees of lign-aloes which the Lord 
hath created, and as cedar trees beside the waters." (Numb, 
xxiv. 5, 6.) There is material enough at hand to pro- 
duce a more vivid and extended description of this great 
scene, but enough has been said to suit our present pur- 
pose. My object is to present an outline of its general 
features, and call attention to those truths typically signified 
therein. 

When Jehovah revealed to the people, through Moses, that 
He desired a sanctuary, to dwell amongst them, they came 
forward with their voluntary offerings, possessed with an ardor 
and enthusiasm rarely, if ever, equalled, until Moses restrained 
the people from giving. (Ex. xxv. 1-9; xxxv. 4-9, 20-30.) The 
chief metals employed were gold, silver, and brass, of which 
there were abundance amongst them. The following is a rough 
calculation of the value of those metals: Gold, $920,000.00; 
silver, $210,000.00; brass, $1,650.00. Besides this, there were 
the precious stones brought by the princes of the people, 
which were employed for the shoulder-stones and breastplate 
of the High Priest; the linen fabrics spun by willing-hearted 
women ; the acacia wood employed for the structure of the 
building, the pillars, and parts of the furniture, and skins for 
coverings. The whole cost, including the workmanship, 
which was rendered voluntarily likewise, could not be less 
than $1^500,000^00. Thus we have an example of the liber- 
ality of the pilgrim Israelites, when appealed to for means to 
build a house ibr the Lord. Gifts from rich and poor were 
alike received and appreciated. 

The principle inculcated in the New Testament, and en- 
forced upon believers of this present dispensation, is that of 
voluntary giving. (1 Cor. xvi. 2 ; 2 Cor.viii. 5-12; ix. 7.) Covet- 
ousness is one of the sins which God warns His people 
against. It ill befits one who receives all from Him, to give 
grudgingly to His service. But where the heart is right 
towards God, the liberality of the worshipper will be neither 
strained nor stinted. A right appreciation of God's character 



in giving to us the Son of His Love, and the conscious- 
ness of our indebtedness to Him for the gift of salvation, 
will lead to nobility of spirit in responding to His claims 
upon us. 

God's design to have the Tabernacle built was that He 
might have a house wherein to dwell in the midst of His 
people. (Ex. xxv. 9.) He was His own Architect. He 
exhibited to Moses the heavenly model, after which he should 
form every part of the building. (Ex. xxv. 9-40 ; Heb. viii. 5.) 
It was the Lord's House, and He testified His approval of the 
building when completed, by filling it with the glory of His 
presence. (Ex. xl. 33, 34.) 

If in Egypt the people met with deliverance, when out, and 
from Egypt, they met with Him who had become their 
deliverer, and there they became acquainted with His ways of 
grace and purposes of mercy. In Egypt Jehovah could not 
dwell in the midst of His people. They needed not only 
salvation through the blood of the Lamb from the sword of 
the Angel, but likewise full deliverance from Egypt's power, 
and separation from Egypt's associations before He could be 
to them their God, and they be to Him His people. And this 
separation to Himself God claims from his spiritual Israel, the 
Church now. His call is loud and unmistakable — " Come 
out, and be ye separate, and touch no unclean thing, and I 
will receive you." Happy indeed are those who obey, " that 
He may dwell in them, and walk in them." 

TYPICAL TEACHING. 

"Christ is the Key to the Bible. Of Him God has given 
us more than sketches ; the Word from end to end is full of 
Him. Therein we have a whole Christ presented to us. Christ 
in His offices, in His character, in His Person. Christ in His 
relations to God and man ; Christ in His Body, the Church ; 
Christ as giving to God all that God required from man ; 
Christ as bringing to man all that man required from God ; 
Christ as seen in this dispensation in suffering; Christ as seen 
in the next dispensation in glory ; Christ as the first and last ; 
Christ as all, and in all, to His people." To understand the 
Word, then, we must know Christ. To understand its letter 
will not suffice ; we need to know its spirit ; for said Jesus, " the 
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." 
(John vi. 63.) But knowing Christ, possessed with His Spirit, 
we become qualified to understand the Word, which otherwise 
will be to us as the letter which killeth, or the hidden hiero- 
glyph which produces confusion. We may expect then to 
find much of Christ in the Scriptures which speak of the 
Tabernacle. He said Himself, " Moses wrote of Me." And 
again, " Search the Scriptures, for they testify OF Me." We 
read, in Heb. ix. 9, the Tabernacle "was a figure for the time 
then present," and in i\\ II, ' Christ being come, ... a 
greater and more perfect Tabernacle." lie is therefore the 
Key to the Tabernacle. In this type are found all the li 
ing doctrines of sin and salvation. Every pin and bolt and 



THE JEWISH TABERNACLE AND PRIESTHOOD. 



cor! and Socket has its own story to relate of the various 

• i f 

" Thai wonderful Redemption, 
God's remedy for sin." 

The Tabernacle is doubtless a type of Heaven and of the 
Church, but in this short exposition I shall confine myself, as 
already intimated, to those aspects of it which relate to Christ, 
in order that we may be led to appreciate His relations to us 
more fully, and realize, without the shadow of a cloud across 
the vision of our faith, that " He of God is made unto us wis- 
dom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption," 
and we are "complete in Him." 

Although the Ark was the first vessel commanded to be 
made, indicating its pre-eminence (Ex. xxv. 10-22), showing 
how salvation originated with God, and how He comes forth 
to save and bless man, yet that aspect of salvation which 
begins with man, leading him step by step until he stands in 
the immediate presence of God, is the line of thought I wish 
to pursue in the application of the typical lessons which we 
may now gather from the Tabernacle and its services. 

THE BRAZEN ALTAR. 

As already shown, the Brazen Altar stood within the gate 
of the court, and between it and the sanctuary. It was the 
first object which met the eye of the worshipper. It stood 
chiefly related to all the other vessels and all the Tabernacle 
services. It was called the "Altar of Burnt-Offering," be- 
cause the whole burnt-offerings which were offered to the 
Lord were consumed by fire upon it. (Lev. i. 6-9.) The fat 
of the sin-offering, and memorials of both the peace-offering 
and meat-offering were offered upon the same altar. It is 
called "The Altar," to designate the fact that God had but 
one altar, to which all sacrificial offerings must be brought. 
It is called "An Altar Most Holy" (Ex. xxix. 37), having 
been consecrated to its special uses with the blood of atone- 
ment. It was the divinely-appointed place of sacrifice, the 
pivotal vessel, if I may so say, on which the whole ceremonial 
worship of Israel balanced. Here we see the worshipper and 
sacrifice ; the offerer and victim ; the sinner and substitute. 
Here sin is transferred in a figure by the laying of hands to 
the head of an innocent animal. The animal is next slain, and 
then consumed as the holy fire feeds upon its various parts. 
And the animal died for sin, but not its own. Thus the 
Brazen Altar served its purpose, viz.: to make reconciliation 
upon. Is not the antitype of the altar THE cross of our 
I CHRIST? "And, having made peace through the 

blood of lli- cro , by Him, to reconcile all things unto Ilim- 
elf; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things 
in heaven. And you that wcrr. sometimes alienated, and 
in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He 
ol. i. 20, 21.) Clearly, then, the cross was fore- 
shadowed here. What truth is there moo- vital, more promi- 
nent, and more important than this, " Christ died for the 



ungodly?" (Rom. v. 6.) Substitution is the primary truth 
of the Gospel. " Christ was made sin for us, who knew no 
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." 
(2 Cor. v. 21.) As the prophet Isaiah foresaw the Man of 
Sorrows walking amidst the scoffing Jews, and lifted up from 
the earth as the sin-bearer, he cried, " Surely He hath borne 
our griefs and carried our sorrows; He was wounded for our 
transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities, and by His 
stripes we are healed." By the blood of the cross, Jesus, our 
surety, met all the righteous claims of God's holy throne, 
having made atonement for our sins. The believer enters into 
the peace and joy resulting therefrom. By faith he beholds 
the sufferer bearing away sin, sacrificing His own life to save 
him from the penalty of the broken law which demanded sin's 
wages — death. Exhausting the punishment due to our sins 
by draining the bitter cup of Judgment to its dregs; honoring 
the law and upholding the righteous government of God ; 
bearing our curse, and sin, and doom, we hear the cry of the 
Victim — " It is finished," and the kingdom of heaven is 
opened to all believers. The holy fire fed upon the sacrifice. 
Mercy rejoices with Justice, and Righteousness with Peace. 
" God is just, and the justificr of him that believeth in Jesus." 
Thus in the lesson of the Brazen Altar the Gospel shines with 
undimmed lustre. It is no cold and silent monument, a 
memorial of the past, but, instinct with life, it cries like the 
Baptist, " Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin 
of the world." Happy the soul who can appropriately say, 
" He loved me, and gave Himself for me ! " (Gal. ii. 20.) We 
commend to the reader the following passages of Scripture 
bearing on this point : 1 Cor. xv. 3 ; Matt. xx. 28 ; 1 John iii. 
16; Gal. i. 4; I Pet. iii. 18; Rom. iv. 25 ; Isa. liii. 12; Heb. ix. 
28; Lev. xvii. 11 ; Heb. ix. 22; 1 Pet. i. 18, 19; Acts xx. 28; 
Rom. v. 8-10. 

" Not what I feel or do, 

Can give me peace with God ; 
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears, 
Can bear my awful load. 

" Thy work alone, O Christ, 

Can ease this weight of sin ; 
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, 
Can give me peace within. 

" I bless the Christ of God, 
I rest on love divine ; 
And with unfaltering lip and heart, 
I call this Saviour mini.." 

THE BRAZEN LAVER. 

We now come to notice the Brazen Laver in its typical sig- 
nification. It stood between the altar and door of the Taber- 
nacle. Its use was to hold water, wherewith the priests 
cleansed their hands and feet, and with which parts of the 
sacrifices were washed. Sin is not only guilt needing an atone- 
ment — a breach of law needing expiation, as we have seen, 



THE JEWISH TABERNACLE AND PRIESTHOOD. 



but it is also moral defilement, and requires cleansing. To 
those who would render acceptable worship, purity is essen- 
tial. Washing the hands and feet from outward defilement is 
but the symbol. At th e Altar we have t he_great tr_utpLof-jus- 
tification foreshown. At the Laver, cleansing, sanctification, 
preparation for service and worship is the prominent thought. 
The order of the vessels and their relation to each other is 
significant. The Altar first, next the Laver. Christ for us at 
the cross is the first part of the Gospel. Christ in tis, as the 
consequence, by His spirit and word, is the second part. Both 
stand connected. The Holy Spirit, through the truth, which 
has a cleansing power, leads us to the blood which faith 
applies to the soul. Through constant application of this 
remedy we are cleansed from daily pollutions. And with 
purged consciences we become prepared for spiritual worship. 
The following Scriptures set forth this truth : " Christ also 
loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might 
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the 
Word." (Eph. v. 25, 26.) "According to His mercy He 
saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renew- 
ing of the Holy Ghost." (Titus iii. 5.) " If we walk in the 
light as He is in the light we have fellowship one with 
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth 
us from all sin." (1 John i. 7.) "Wherewithal shall a young 
man cleanse his way ? By taking heed thereto according to 
thy word." (Ps. cxix. 9.) The Word points out the remedy. 
The Spirit leads to the remedy. Faith applies the remedy; 
the remedy itself is " the blood of Jesus Christ." Thus are 
we "washed in His blood most precious till not a spot re- 
mains." 

To imagine having attained to a condition of sinlessness, 
when the blood is no longer needed, is to have " fallen from 
grace." Against this solemn delusion we affectionately warn 
our readers. Believers should not sin, but when overtaken, 
" if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us 
our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Exer- 
cising ourselves in the Word will correct our wrong habits, 
condemn our carnal walk, rectify our judgment, ennoble and 
purify our thoughts, and exalt Christ by constantly exhibiting 
Him to the soul. Our holiness is not self-attainment, or self- 
complaisance. It is Christ. And the exhibition of our holi- 
ness is growth into His likeness, from glory to glory. In 
the mirror of the Word we see Him: by the Spirit of our God 
are we morally transfigured, and by the application of the 
blood defilement is removed. Thus, the Spirit, the Word and 
the Blood agree in work and testimony. 

THE TABERNACLE PROPER. 

This, as has been already shown, consisted of two rooms, 
the Holy Place and the Most Holy. It was made of boards 
of the acacia wood, covered with plates of gold, resting in 
sockets of silver, and protected with coverings of fine linen, 
goats' hair and skins of animals. The exterior was not beau- 



tiful to look upon, but, within, the brilliancy of the gold, the 
brightness of the light, the beauty of the curtains, and the 
fragrance of the incense, must have produced awe, reverenc 
wonder and admiration in the beholder. Christ, when looked 
upon in His human nature, as the Son of man only, exhibited 
no glory to the outward eye. Indeed, the Jews " saw no 
beauty in Him." "His visage was marred more than any 
man, and his form than the sons of men." (Isa. liii. 2; 
Hi. 14.) Yet was He the Holy One of God, Elect, Precious, 
of whom the Church sings, " My Beloved is white and ruddy, 
the chiefest among ten thousand. . . . He is altogether 
lovely." The eye of faith alone can explore His hidden 
glories and behold in Him all perfection. The acacia wood, 
or "incorruptible" wood of His humanity is in close relation 
to the gold of Plis Divinity. " We beheld His glory, the 
glory as of the only begotten of the Father." (John i. 14.) 
Shining out as the brightness of the sun, His raiment white 
and glistening, we look upon Him on the holy mount, and 
hear a heavenly voice saying, " This is My beloved Son in 
whom I am well pleased ; hear ye Plim." 

" Oh ! could I speak the matchless worth, 
Ch ! could I sound the glories forth 

Which in my Saviour shine; 
I'd soar, and touch the heavenly strings. 
And vie with Gabriel while he sings 

In notes almost divine. 

" I'd sing the character He hears, 
And all the forms of love lie wears 

Exalted on His throne. 
In loftiest songs of sweetest praise, 
I would, to everlasting days, 

Make all His glories known." 

The Tabernacle was God's dwelling-place, and all who 
sought Plis blessing approached Plim there by way of sacrifice. 
He has now no local dwelling-place. In " Christ dwelleth all 
the fulness of the Godhead bodily." (Col. ii. 10.) Jesus said, 
" He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." God is in 
Christ, the true Tabernacle, and ali who come to God must 
come to Him through Christ. " No man cometh unto the 
Father but by me." (John xiv. C ; vi. 37.) Those who speak 
of the Fatherhood of God, yet reject Christ as the One in 
whom Fatherhood is known, know nothing of the teaching 
contained in these types. It is a solemn matter to disbelieve 
any part of God's truth, and to ignore this great foundation 
doctrine is a solemn responsibility. "God was in Christ 
reconciling the world to Himself." (2 Cor. v. 19.) " I in 
them and Thou in Me." (John xvii. 23.) God dwelt within 
the curtains of the Tabernacle by a visible symbol only, ami 
was seen by the High Priest once a year. In contrast to this 
we can, by faith, always behold the reality of Cod's glory in 
the face of Jesus Christ, who is pre-eminently "the true 
Tabernacle which God pitched, and not man,'' — the real habi- 
tation in whom Me dwelleth. 



THE JEWISH TABERNACLE AND PRIESTHOOD. 



Having entered the Tabernacle, we now stand in the Holy 
Place. At the east and west ends are two beautiful curtains, 
called the door and vail. There was but one mode of 
entrance into the court, namely, through the gate; oneway 
into the Holy Place, through the door, and one way into the 
Holiest of All, through the vail. "Jesus died the just for the 
unjust, that He might bring us to God." There is but one 
way into His presence. The gate, door and vail represent 
Christ. (John x. 9; Heb. x. 19,20.) 

THE GOLDEN ALTAR. 

Facing the beautiful vail, and near to it, midway between the 
north and south walls, was the Golden Altar, or Altar of In- 
cense. (Ex. xxx. 1-10.) It was a very important vessel of minis- 
try. Though made of wood, it was covered with plates of gold. 
Its use was to burn incense upon. " And Aaron shall burn 
thereon sweet incense every morning ; when he dresseth the 
lamps he shall burn incense upon it." This incense was made 
of four sweet spices. (Ex. xxx. 34, 35.) The fragrance and 
sweetness of these ingredients were not known till submitted 
to the action of fire. Hence the phrase, " to burn incense." 
As the Priest was doing this constantly, it was called "a per- 
petual incense before the Lord." (Ex. xxx. 8.) To burn 
incense was a symbol of prayer and thanksgiving. " Lord, I 
cry unto Thee, make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice 
when I cry unto Thee. Let my prayer be set forth before 
Tliee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the even- 
ing sacrifice." (Ps. cxli. 1, 2.) In Rev. v. 8, we read, "The 
four beasts (living creatures) and four-and-twenty elders fell 
down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and 
golden vials full of odors (incense), which are the prayers of 
saints." The incense was offered on the Golden Altar. Of 
what, then, was it a type? Of Jesus. Prayer and praise is 
acceptable only when offered in His name. " Whatsoever ye 
shall ask the Father ix My name, He will give it you." 
(John xvi. 23.) It is He that gives efficacy and value to our 
offerings of praise and thanksgiving. The Altar was conse- 
crated with blood, and the incense was offered from a blood- 
sprinkled basis. (Ex. xxx. 10.) The ministry of the Altar 
was thus closely connected with atonement by blood. And 
is it not the meritorious sacrifice of Christ which forms the 
foundation of all true worship, and by which even the sins of 
our holy things are purged away? 

The Golden Altar in the Holy Place reminds us of the 
scene of our Lord's present ministry. The Brazen Altar out- 
side suggests the work accomplished on earth. But now His 
work is carried on in heaven, where" He appears in the 
pre ence of God for us." (Heb. vii. 25; Rom. viii. 34.) 

In I. ul.'.- i. we read that " the whole multitude were praying 

without .it the time of incense." This is now the believers' 

r of prayer, whilst Jesus intercedes. (Eph. vi. iS; Col. iv. 

2; Rom. xii. 12.) A precious thought i; given us in Rev. viii. 

3,4. "An Angel came and stood at the Altar, having a 



golden censer, and there was given unto him much incense, 
that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints. And the 
smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended 
up before God, out of the Angel's hand." Thus it is that 
Jesus purifies our prayers, offering up with them the sweet 
incense of his own merits, securing their acceptance. How 
important, then, that our worship should be rendered to God 
in and through Christ. " No man cometh unto the Father 
but by Me." (John xiv. 6.) 

" Depend on Him, thou canst not fail ; 

Make all thy wants and wishes known ; 
Fear not, His merits must prevail ; 
Ask what thou wilt, it shall be done." 

When journeying, the Golden Altar had first spread over it 
a cloth of blue, and was next covered with a covering of bad- 
gers' skins. It was borne on the shoulders of the Kohathites, 
with staves prepared for that purpose. 

THE TABLE OF SHEW BREAD. 

In the next place we come to examine the Shew Bread 
Table. It stood near the north wall, in the Holy Place. Its 
material was the same as that of the Golden Altar. It was 
supplied with smaller vessels, made of pure gold. " Thou 
shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers 
thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal ; of pure gold shalt 
thou make them." In Lev. xxiv. 5-9, we observe the design 
of this Table. Twelve loaves of unleavened bread were 
placed upon it, and renewed every seventh day. The bread 
which was removed was eaten by the Priests in the Holy 
Place. 

That there were twelve loaves has, doubtless, reference to 
the twelve tribes, even as they were represented by the twelve 
precious stones in the breastplate of the High Priest. Mean- 
time, I believe, as in the case of the other vessels of ministry, 
the Table and Bread pointed to Christ. The bread was made 
of fine flour and unleavened. There was no unevenness in 
the flour, and it was pure. The corn was crushed, and bruised, 
and baked before it became food for the Priests. Leaven is 
the emblem of evil, being a corrupt and corrupting thing. 
(Matt. xvi. 6-12; Mark viii. 15; Luke xii. 1; 1 Cor. v. 6-8 ; 
Gal. v. 9.) There was no leaven in Jesus, " no guile found in 
His mouth." Nor was there unevenness in His character. 
His flesh is meat indeed. He calls Himself the true Bread, 
and the living Bread, which, if a man eat, he shall live for- 
ever. The bread which He gave was His Flesh. Priests only 
could feed upon the Shew Bread. Believers now arc unto 
God a Kingdom of Priests, and as such they are invited to 
draw near. " P3at, O my friends ! " " Eat ye that which is 
good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." Shall not 
our prayer be, " Lord, evermore give us this bread." 

" Bread of Heaven, 

1 'id 11, lill we want no more." 



Plate 3. 






- 




, 













! 






->j 






i — i 




(. ji 



n 



1. Brazen Altar. 



2. Brazen Laver. 3. Table of Shewbread 4. Altar of Incense. 

5. GoldenCandleskick. 6. Ark andMercv Seat. 



THE HOLY VESSELS. 

EHTllHt *uo*»iho TO *CT or canonist in Tnt itk* 1ST* Kr H V gg *RD BRO't.'M thi office or rue u •»«"«« or co»o«r« if »•««• ■ 



THE JEWISH TABERNACLE AND PRIESTHOOD. 



The covering of the Table was a cloth of blue for its 
vessels, a cloth of scarlet, and an outside covering of badgers' 
skins. 

THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK. 

This costly vessel stood at the south side of the Holy Place, 
directly facing the shew bread table, and throwing its light 
upon it. It was made of pure gold. It was all made out of 
a talent of gold, beaten with hammers until it assumed its 
proper shape. The seven bowls on tops of the branches were 
supplied with pure olive oil, which burned continually. (Lev. 
xxv. 1-5.) It must have been an imposing object in the Holy 
Place. Graceful in shape, and elaborately ornamented, giving 
forth its soft brilliant light, and reflecting that light upon 
itself with dazzling brightness, it was an object of splendor 
and beauty. 

One thought expressed in the candlestick is Christ our 
Light. The Spirit was given unto Him without measure. 
He is the true Light. In Him is no darkness at all. Not 
only was He " the Light of men," but He fills heaven itself 
with unclouded brightness. " The glory of God did lighten 
it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." (Rev. xxi. 23.) 

In Rev. i. the seven candlesticks are the seven churches. 
I think it is no speculation to say that the seven-branched 
lamp-stand in the Holy Place is a type of Christ and the 
Church. The branches were a part of the candlestick, and 
were beaten out of it. When Adam had fallen into a deep 
sleep the Lord took out a rib, and of that rib He builded a 
woman, which the man recognized as bone of his bone and 
flesh of his flesh. They were therefore no more twain, but 
one flesh. The Apostle, in Eph. v. 26-30, shows this to be a 
type of Christ and the Church. This mystical oneness is also 
represented by the candlestick. The Church is One with 
Christ, He is the Head of the Body, and is now in heaven. 
But the Body indwelt by the Holy Spirit on the earth is 
commanded to "shine as lights in the world." (Phil. ii. 15 ; 
Matt. v. 16.) 

The High-Priest kept the lamps of the candlestick supplied 
with oil constantly. With snuffers he removed the burnt 
matter, that the light may shine undimmed and unhindered. 
Thus Christ exercises His priestly care over the Church. 
He gives the residue of the spirit. He baptizes with the 
Holy Ghost. He walks amidst the seven-branched lampstand 
to replenish, renovate and trim the lamps. Me is the 
Light, as well as Priest. He shines into the hearts of His 
people, that they may shine out in His likeness. " Ye were 
once darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord ; walk as 
children of light." It is important to heed these injunctions 
lest our light become darkness. "Awake thou that slccpest, 
and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." 

Abiding in Jesus, as the living Vine, we shall bring forth 
fruit. Abiding in Him as the True Light, we shall reproduce 
that light, in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth. To 
this end, dear believer, let us seek the fulness of the Spirit, 



realize our union to Christ, letting His light shine through 
us, that all may take knowledge of us that we have been with 
Jesus. 

Like the other vessels it had its covering for protection on 
the journey. "And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover 
the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs, 
and his snuff-dishes, and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith 
they minister unto it. And they shall put it and all the 
vessels thereof within a covering of badgers' skins, and shall 
put it upon a bar." (Numb. iv. 9, 10.) 

THE MOST HOLY PLACE. 

Having examined the Holy Place, with its vessels of minis- 
try, let us now look within the vail into "the Holiest of All." 
This sacred place was four-square, and had but one piece of 
furniture within its walls. The Ark, Mercy-Seat and Cherubim 
were all one. The Ark was the sacred chest in which was 
deposited the Table of the Covenant, Aaron's rod that budded, 
and the-golden pot of Manna. The pre-eminence of the Ark 
and Mercy-Seat we before pointed out. It was the first thing 
commanded to be made, and the only vessel of the Tabernacle 
transferred to the temple. The Mercy-Seat was a solid slab 
of gold, the same length and width as the Ark, and acted as 
its cover. On the ends of it were the Cherubim, of one piece 
with the Mercy-Seat, beaten out of the same piece of gold. 
This was the only seat in the Tabernacle, and it was God's 
Throne-seat. The Priests were always standing, accomplish- 
ing the service of God. Their work under the Jewish dis- 
pensation was never completed. But Jesus, when Pie finished 
the work of sacrifice, sat dozen at the right hand of God. 

God, then, had a seat in the Tabernacle. Between the 
Cherubim shone the Shekinah Glory, symbol of His Divine 
presence. To this seat of Mercy the High-Priest drew near once 
every year with the blood of the sin-offering, and sprinkled it 
upon the Mercy-Seat, and before the Mercy-Seat. Then God 
communed with man, and blest the people. (Ex. xxv. 10-23.) 
If there were no Mercy-Seat to receive the blood of propitia- 
tion, man could not draw near, for the uncovered law would 
hurl its terrible anathemas at him. Israel had broken its 
prohibitory requirements. It could therefore only curse. 
" Cursed is every one that continued! not in all things written 
in the book of the law to do them." The law is holy and 
just and good, but it cannot save the transgressor. It can 
only thunder out its righteous sentence. " It never saved a 
sinner; if it did, it would be no longer a law. If it softened 
and yielded at any point, it were absolutely annulled. If any 
sin, or any sinner is allowed to pass, where is the justice vi 
punishing any sin, or any sinner. To bend any command- 
ment for the accommodation of a defaulter is to blot out the 
law. The law, by its very nature, can have no partialities anil 
no compunctions. It never saves those who transgress, and 
never weeps for those who perish." How then can a sinner 
be saved? "The wages of sin is death." The penalty of 



8 



THE JEWISH TABERNACLE AND PRIESTHOOD. 



violated law is death. See then on the day of atonement the 
Priest slaying the goat for a sin-offering. It is the death of 
an innocent victim, dying as a substitute for the guilty. Be- 
hold ! the Priest enters within the vail with its blood, and in 
the presence of Jehovah sprinkles it upon the Mercy-Scat. 
The voice of the law is hushed. The sentence has been 
executed, and now mercy rejoices against judgment. "With- 
out shedding of blood, there is no remission ; " but God's 
eye sees the blood and He says, " Your sins and your ini- 
quities will I remember no more." 

Dear reader, thus it is that" grace reigns through righteous- 
ness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." We 
have sinned, and are condemned already. Jesus Christ 
came down from heaven, and took our place under the 
curse of the law. " He was made a curse for us." He 
died to hush the law's loud thunder, to quench Mount 
Sinai's flame. The slaying of the goat was repeated yearly, 
but when Jesus died, the work was fully accomplished and 
needed never repeating. " By one offering He hath perfected 
forever them that are sanctified." He entered into heaven 
with His own blood, and now we are invited to draw near to 
the Mercy-Seat, " with a true heart in full assurance of faith." 

When the men of Bethshemesh looked into the Ark they 
were slain, (i Sam. vi. 18-21.) They removed the Mercy- 
Seat, the covering, with its blood of propitiation, and the law 
killed them. When Paul looked to the law, it slew him. 
I low solemn then to set aside God's way of pardon and salva- 
tion. " By the works of the law there shall no flesh be 
justified in His sight." But God hath set forth Jesus to be a 
propitiation, or Mercy-Seat, that through faith in His blood 
we might be justified from all things. Christ, having met all 
the claims of law, and the righteous requirements of God's 
Holy Throne, becomes our Mercy-Seat. " Let us' therefore 
come boldly unto the Throne of Grace, that we may obtain 
mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb. iv. 16.) 
" Not by works of righteousness we have done, but according 
to His mercy He saved us." 

Is my reader a Christian ? Arc you saved through the 
precious blood of Jesus ? Remember, if yet unsaved, the 
solemn lessons of the Mercy-Seat. You can do nothing to 
justify yourself. Your own righteousness will not avail. 
Your good works cannot meet the law's demands. Why then 
go about establishing a righteousness of your own ? Why 
not submit now to God's righteous way of salvation ? The 
vail is rent. The blood is sprinkled. The way is open. The 
invitation is, Come ! Come ! ! COMIC ! ! ! Do not delay. " Now 
is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation." 

" There is a place where Jesus sheds 

I oil of gladness on our head, 

A place than all besides more sweet: 

II i^ the blood-stained Mercy-Seat." 

OUR GREAT HIGH-PRIEST. 

Nearly all religions uphold Priesthood as a necessity. It 
i, absolutely indispensable to Christianity. Pagan nations 



have corrupted this office, whilst the Papal system has mo; 
shamefully perverted it from its original design. Moder 
Ritualism likewise has subverted its foundations, substitutin; 
a human Priest in the place of Jesus — whose prerogative alon 
it is to pardon and absolve — the Christian's only Priest. 

All these and other perversions of the Priesthood, witl 
kindred doctrinal truths, arise from misconceptions of th 
economy of grace. The ordinances of the Gospel are not th< 
perpetuation of Jewish ritualism. Superseding them in ever) 
respect, they are the substance of which the latter was the 
shadow; the realities which therein were symbolized; the 
antitype typified thereby. 

The Jewish Priesthood, serving a purpose for the time ther 
present, typified Christ the Great High-Priest over the House 
of God, who ever liveth to make intercession for us. 

Though the believer is absolutely forgiven all trespasses 
clothed in Divine righteousness; justified by the blood of 
Christ ; sanctified through the offering up of His body ; and 
reconciled to God through His death, yet he needs the Great 
High-Priest to represent him in full acceptance before God, 
without spot or blemish ; to maintain him in everlasting life, 
blessing and glory; to remove from him daily defilement 
contracted in his pilgrimage through the world, and preserve 
him blameless unto His heavenly kingdom. 

"The Aaronic Priesthood of the Son of God, of which 
these types and shadows speak, is the presentation of Himself, 
in all the perfection of His atoning sacrifice, the exceeding 
preciousness of His Person, and the moral glory of His human 
character, for acceptance by the God of holiness and justice, 
having glorified the Father as a man on earth, on behalf of 
all, for whom He became incarnate and obedient unto death." 

The import of the title Priest is that of a sacrificer. It in- 
cludes ministry. It ensures blessing. It involves a service to 
be rendered, a victim to be offered, and certain results flowing 
therefrom. This was God's appointment. " For every high- 
priest taken from among men, is ordained for men in things 
pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices 
for sins." (Heb. v. 1.) The qualifications of the High-Priest 
were natural, mora^ and legal. Chosen from the tribe of 
Levi, he must be a descendant of Aaron, and be free from all 
blemishes, superfluities, defects and physical infirmities. (Lev. 
xxi. 17-21.) 

As possessed with moral qualities, being merciful and 
compassionate (Heb. v. 2), he received appointment to office 
by a special call from God. (Heb. v. 4.) Marrying none but 
a virgin (Lev. xxi. 14), he must be separated from all worldli- 
ncss and defilement, and devoted to the welfare of the nation. 

In these many respects Israel's High-Priest shadowed forth 
the qualifications of the Lord Jesus Christ in His Priestly 
character. Called of God to this office ; holy, harmless and 
undefiled in His person and character; overflowing with com- 
passion ; considerate toward His people, and espousing to Him- 
self the Church as a virgin, He enters the sacred office en- 
dowed with all necessary qualifications. 



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THE JEWISH TABERNACLE AND PRIESTHOOD. 



Having been called and qualified, the Priest's multifarious 
duties begun. He offered sacrifice, made atonement for sin 
(Lev. xvl.), offered incense (Lev. xvi. 12, 13), judged evil (Lev. 
xiii. 2), declared the mind and will of God (Numb, xxvii. 21 ; 
Deut. xxxii. 8), decided controversies and solved difficulties 
(Deut. xvii. 8-12; xix. 17; xxi. 5), represented the nation on 
the shoulder-stones and breastplate (Ex. xxviii. 9-29), and 
blest the people in the name of the Lord. (Numb. vi. 23.) 
We observe, then, that offering sacrifice was not the only duty 
of Israel's Priest. It formed, indeed, the foundation of all 
other services, and was constantly repeated. It must ever re- 
main present to the mind that " without shedding of blood is 
no remission," but the remission of sins is only the beginning 
of priestly blessing. 

The present ministry of Christ for His people within the 
vail is closely connected with the sacrifice of Himself, which, 
without spot, He offered unto God, as an atonement for sin. 
He has now entered into the Most Holy Place. (Heb. ix. 9, 12.) 
He represents His people there (Heb. ix. 24) ; He offers the 
fragrant incense of His own merits; He declares the will of 
God (Heb. i. 1); He rebukes evil (Rev. ii., iii.) ; He judges 
our thoughts and ways (Heb. iv. 13), and He returns to bless 
His saints with an everlasting benediction. (Heb. ix. 28.) 

The High-Priest's clothing and their typical signification 
next claim our attention. In Exodus xxviii. 1-4, and xxxix. 
27, 28, we have an enumeration of their several parts. The 
linen breeches, linen robe and linen girdle may be termed his 
personal clothing. The Ephod, robe of Ephod, girdle of 
Ephod, Mitre and Crown were his representative garments. 
The linen garments suggest righteousness. Aaron was not 
personally perfect. The purity attaching to him was derived 
from his personal clothing. The other garments worn, on 
special occasions, were " garments of glory and beauty." The 
light of the onyx stones on the shoulders, and precious stones 
on the breastplate, together with the golden wire interwoven 
and brilliant colors blended on their surface, imparted an ap- 
pearance of beauty which did not belong to him personally. 
They covered the man ; were fitting in every part ; were 
unique in their setting and design, and were graceful to 
the eye. 

By contrast as well as ampaison the preciousness of 
Christ is set forth in type and symbol. Jesus is, in Himself, 
perfect, covered with a personal glory which belongs not to 
earth. His indescribable glories are moral, not physical. 
The unbelieving Jews saw no beauty in Him, but by faith the 
believer beholds " His glory, the glory as of the only begot- 
ten of the Father, full of grace and truth." 

The linen coat, which the High-Priest wore daily next his 
person, must not be confounded with the linen garment worn 
by Him on the day of Atonement. Both typifi.-d the right- 
eousness of the Lord Jesus. 

There were two "girdles employed: that which bound the 
embroidered coat to the body, and that known as the curious 
girdle, connected with the Ephod. The girdle symbolized 



readiness for service. Israel's Priest was a servant to God, on 
behalf of the people. Of Christ, it is said, " Righteousness 
shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of 
His reins." (Isa. xi. 5.) He became servant of all. Girding 
Himself with a towel, He washed the disciples' feet. (John 
xiii. 4, 5.) He came " not to be ministered unto, but to minis- 
ter and give His life a ransom for many." Not only does 1 Ie 
wash the sinner from his sins, in His own blood (Rev. i. 5), 
but as the girded One, He continues His service as High- 
Priest over God's House. Believers, as priests in association 
with Jesus, should follow His example, and heed His injunc- 
tion : " Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burn- 
ing, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for the Lord, 
when Pie will return from the wedding." 

THE BLUE ROBE. 

Worn over the fine linen coat was this long, loose garment, 
called the Robe of the Ephod. It was woven of one piece. 
There were slits at the sides for the arms to pass through, and 
a hole at the top, bound around with a strong binding, for the 
head to pass through. (Ex. xxviii. 31-35 ) Around the hem, 
which descended to the feet, was an ornamental fringe, with 
tassels depending therefrom, in the form of the pomegranate 
fruit, and alternating with small bells of pure gold. The color 
of this robe was all blue. This color was pre-eminent in the 
Tabernacle and its surroundings. May it not be suggestive 
of the fact that heavenly ways characterized the Son of God ? 
Blue is the color of the heavens when peaceful and serene. 
His origin was heavenly. When on earth, in spirit He dwelt 
there. " The Son of Man which is in heaven." His actions 
were heavenly. His words falling from those lips, compared 
to " lilies dropping sweet-smelling myrrh," were words of 
grace and compassion. They were golden utterances of 
which we are reminded in the sound given forth by the golden 
bells attached to this priestly robe. His words of prayer and 
praise were musical in the ears of His Father. The pome- 
granate fruit associated with this garment not only indicated 
the fruitful service of Israel's High-Priest, but His also whom 
he represented. Fruitful indeed is He in every act of service. 
By His precious blood a great multitude will be washed from 
their sins. And if " reconciled to God by the death of His 
Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by 
His life." Because He lives, we shall live also. Thus "He 
bringeth many sons unto glory." 

THE EPHOD. 

Over the blue robe this distinctive garment was worn. It 
was made of fine linen, interwoven with gold wire, ami colors 
of blue, purple and scarlet. It was made of two parts, one 
for the front, the other for the back, and both were fastened 
together at the shoulders by the golden clasps which formed 
the setting for the onyx stones. It was brought together 



IO 



THE JEWISH TABERNACLE AND PRIESTHOOD. 



under the armpits by the girdle which bound it to the person, 
i Ex. xxviii. 6-15 ; xxxix. 2-6.) The onyx stones had engraved 
upon them the names of the twelve tribes, "six of their names 
on one stone, and the six names of the rest on the other stone, 
according to their birth." (Ex. xxviii. 10.) The High-Priest was 
both representative and burden-bearer of the whole nation. 
The people were the subjects of his thoughts, and the objects 
of his intercession. It was his duty to care for them and seek 
their welfare. In a figure, they rested on the place of strength 
and security. So Jesus, our great High-Priest, has the govern- 
ment upon His shoulders. (Isa. ix. 6.) But to Him belongs 
divine might. He is the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, 
whose strength never faileth, and whose interest in His re- 
deemed people continueth ever. Securely does He carry 
them, laying the sheep on His shoulders rejoicing. Herein is 
comfort for the weak and wear}'. It is no longer a question 
of their strength, but of His. They are borne 

" On a shoulder 
Which upholds the government of worlds," 

enfolded in the preciousness and glory of the Great High- 
Priest. 

THE BREASTPLATE. 

We shall now consider this beautiful and costly article con- 
nected with the Ephod, and made of the same material. (Ex. 
xxviii. 15-30.) It was woven two spans long and one broad. 
It was then doubled, to impart strength and firmness in bear- 
ing the weight of twelve precious stones. These stones were 
placed on its surface, in settings of gold, arranged in four 
rows. All were precious stones, though differing in value and 
in brilliancy. On the stones were engraved the names of the 
tribes, each tribe on its own separate stone. The Breastplate 
was suspended from the shoulders by golden chains connected 
with the onyx stones, and from gold rings in the lower cor- 
ners it was fastened to gold rings in the Ephod by a lace of 
blue. Thus it was kept firmly secured over the heart of 
Israel's Priest, and the nation was then doubly represented — 
upon his shoulders, the seat of strength, and on his heart, the 

: of love. What truth is herein signified? Surely, that 
not only the strength of Christ, the power of Christ, the Al- 
mightiness of Christ is exercised to uphold His people, but 
I lis affection^, His deep, tender, unchangeable love embraces 
them, holding them always close to His heart. 

In connection with the Breastplate was the Urim and 
Thummim. It is impossible to tell what these were. The 

irds mean "lights and perfections." Many fanciful specula- 
tions have been indulged in by various writers, but it is best 
not to speculate when- God is silent, and restrict our thoughts 
within the limits of revelation. 

'I I lb; MITRE. 

I dn was made of fine white linen. It was 
the Priest's bonnet, or head dress. Fastened with a blue rib- 



bon to the fore-front was a golden plate, on which was 
engraved the words, " Holiness to the Lord." (Ex. xxviii. 
36-39.) This golden plate was always upon his forehead, 
" that they may be accepted before the Lord." The nation, 
composed of individual sinners, was, through God's provisions 
of grace, represented before Him as "an holy nation, a pecu- 
liar people." Such also is the standing of the Church in 
identification with her Great High-Priest. She is " accepted 
in the Beloved." There is no holiness inherent in the believer, 
or wrought out by such, that could stand the scrutiny of God's 
searching light. But we are in Christ, " who of God is made 
unto us . . . sanctification." Our holiness is therefore always 
the same, acceptable unto God ; but it is in the full recognition 
of this great truth, realizing that He wears for us the holy 
crown, that we grow in practical conformity to His image, and 
become gloriously changed into His likeness. Holding loosely 
our actual standing where God's grace hath placed us, in His 
Son, will lead either to a careless walk, which disowns our 
responsibility, or a legal striving for a personal holiness by the 
works of the flesh, which ignores His grace. 

Types speak not only in similarities, but in contrasts also, 
and in the light of contrast is seen the superiority of Christ's 
Priesthood above Aaron's. In His personal perfection ; in 
the value of His sacrifice; in the scene of His ministry; in 
the regal aspect of His Priesthood, typified in Melchizedek; 
in the more perfect presentation of the worshipper; in the 
deeper discrimination of evil, and in the fuller benediction 
He imparts, He rises superior to Israel's Priest. " In aJl 
things He must have the pre-eminence." 

"He bears the names of all His saints 
Deep on His heart engraved; 
Attentive to the states and wants 
Of all His love has saved. 

"In Him a holiness complete, 
Light and perfections shine ; 
And wisdom, grace, and glory meet; 
A Saviour all Divine. 

"The blood, which as a Priest He bears 
For sinners, is His own ; 
The incense of His prayers and tears 
Perfumes the holy throne. 

" In Him my weary soul has rest, 
Though I am weak and vile ; 
I read my name upon His breast, 
Ami see the Father smile." 

THE COMMON PRIESTS. 

Associated with the High-Priest were other Priests, who 
served under him. Their duties were many and important. 
They killed the victims; presented sacrifice; sprinkled and 
poured out the blood ; had charge of the Brazen Altar; saw 
that the fire was ever burning thereon ; prepared the shew- 
bread ; compounded the incense, and participated generally in 



THE JEWISH TABERNACLE AND PRIESTHOOD. 



1 1 



the services of the Tabernacle. Besides, they were intrusted 
with the education of the people, teaching Jacob and Israel 
the judgments and law of God. (Deut. xxxii. 10.) 

Separated unto this work, they were exclusively given to it. 
From the people they received tithes, which, with portions of 
the sacrifices and shew-bread, maintained them. When estab- 
lished in the land, fruit, corn, and other produce, according to 
a systematic arrangement, ministered to their sustenance. Spe- 
cial garments were provided for them, consisting of breeches 
(Ex. xxviii. 42 ; xxxix. 28), a coat, or tunic (Ex. xxviii.4, 39; 
xxxix. 27), the girdle (Ex. xxviii. 4, 40; xxxix. 29), and the 
bonnet. (Ex. xxviii. 40.) All these were made of fine linen, 
and were pure white, except the girdle, which was interwoven 
with blue, purple and scarlet threads. This dress suggested 
purity and beauty. 

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Great High-Priest : believers 
(those who through grace have received the message of recon- 
ciliation, and are saved through the blood of His cross, joined 
unto the"" Lord by one spirit) are identified with Him in His 
Priestly character, and associated with Him in Priestly duties. 
"Ye," says the Apostle, when writing to saints, "are a chosen 
generation, a royal Priesthood." (i Pet. ii. 9.) Again : " Ye 
also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy 
Priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices," etc. (1 Pet. ii. 5.) 
And aeain : " Unto Him that loved us, and hath washed us 
from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us Kings and 
Priests unto His God and Father, to Him be glory and 
dominion for ever and ever. Amen." (Rev. i. 6; v. 10.) 

As none but priests could enter the Tabernacle, so now 
none but priests can enter into God's presence. The vail 
is rent, the Holy anS Most Holy Places have become one, 
and those, made priests by faith in Christ, are invited to draw 
near, to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, in the 
full assurance of faith. (Heb. x. 19-22.) 

With a beautiful and glorious covering upon us, may we, 
dear Christian, enjoy our privileges and realize our responsi- 
bilities as priests unto God, heeding the injunction, " By Him, 
therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, 
that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But 
to. do good and to communicate forget not : for with such sac- 
rifices God is well pleased." (Heb. xiii. 15, 16.) 

It should be noted, as a matter of vital importance, that the 
word " Priest," as applied to Christ, or His people, does not 
imply the continuance of an atoning sacrifice. Atonement 
has been rendered to God by our Great High-Priest, and His 
intercession is now based on the ground of its completion. 
They, therefore, who still insist that ministers, or " the clergy," 
fire priests in the sense that there is a true and real propitiative 
sacrifice still offered for sin, trample under foot the blood of 
the Son of God, and reject the gospel of His grace. " Nor 
does the word 'priests' denote any particular class in the 
Christian church. It belonged to Mark, to Phebe, to Lydia, 
to every Christian in God's church, as well as to St. Paul. 
Ministerial gifts may and do cause difference of service among 



priests." Some are Pastors, some Evangelists, some Teachers, 
some Helpers ; and when those gifted exercise such gifts 
under the Holy Ghost, their service will minister to the edifi- 
cation of the body of Christ. As regards worship, which is 
God-ward, all priests, believers, occupy the same ground. 
There are differences in the intelligence of the worshippers, 
but the qualification for worship is the same in all — a purged 
conscience through the blood ; the indwelling of the Holy 
Ghost, and oneness with the High-Priest, who is " now in the 
presence of God for us." 

THE LEYITES. 

We before remarked that the tribe of Levi was chosen from 
the twelve tribes to wait upon the services of the sanctuary. 
From this tribe was chosen the family of priests, with Aaron as 
their head. The remainder of the tribe consisted of the three 
families of Merari, Gershon and Kohath, sons of Levi, who 
were assistants to the priests in their sacred office. After the 
redemption of the nation from the bondage and darkness of 
Egypt, God claimed His right to the first-born sons of Israel 
to be specially set apart to His service. These would become 
helpers in the duties of the Tabernacle ; but in lieu thereof, 
according to His infinite wisdom, Jehovah chose the families 
of the Levites for this purpose. This tribe numbered 22,000 
(Numb. iii. 39) ; the first-born Israelites numbered 22,273 ; but 
in order that the proportion should be equal, the excess num- 
ber of first-born sons (273 in number) were redeemed by per- 
mission, at the rate of five shekels each. (Numb. iii. 46-51.) 
As already stated, about 8000 of the Levites were qualified by 
age, by physical perfectness and moral qualifications, to enter 
the duties of their office. 

The following extract from W. Brown's book on the Taber- 
nacle, where he speaks on the subject of the Levites, so fully 
accords with my own view, that I feel I cannot do more to 
profit the patient reader than subjoining it, as a fitting close to 
the above exposition : 

" The Levites were solemnly set apart to their office by 
Aaron. Having shaved all their flesh and washed their 
clothes, they were sprinkled with pure water, and then pre- 
sented as a national offering to the Lord — the nation's repre- 
sentatives — the elders of the respective tribes — putting their 
hands upon them, thereby signifying that the people gave 
them to the Lord in place of the first-born. After being thus 
transferred to the Lord, two bullocks were offered as sacrifices, 
the one for a sin-offering and the other for a burnt-offering. 
(Numb. viii. 5-23.) 

"Whatever assistance the priests might require to enable 
them to overtake their sacred work, the Levites were ever at 
hand to render it. Sceptics would not be so bold in asserting 
that it was impossible for Aaron and his sons to do all the 
work connected with the sacrifices, if they had not wilfully 
shut their eyes to this fact It is true the mere Levite c 
not offer up the sacrifices, sprinkle the blood, burn incense or 



THE JEWISH TABERNACLE AND PRIESTHOOD. 



perform other priestly acts ; but in helping to prepare the vic- 
tims for the altar, and in numerous other ways, he might law- 
fully assist in the religious services of the Tabernacle. 

" In the wilderness the Levites had the sole charge of taking 
down and putting up the Tabernacle, and of transporting it 
from one place of encampment to another. (Numb, iv.) At 
one time the Levites may have been seen busy in the Taber- 
nacle court, waiting on the priests and helping them in their 
work ; at another time, taking down the sacred structure ; at 
another, transporting it and its holy vessels through the wil- 
derness ; and at another, rearing it in some new place of 
encampment; but their duties were not confined to such ser- 
vices as these, for to them, with the priests, the religious 
instruction of the nation was confided: 'They shall teach 
Jacob thy judgments and Israel thy law.' (Deut. xxxiii. 10.) 
These were among the dying words of Moses, and there are 
numerous passages of Scripture illustrating them, showing 
that the Levites as well as the priests taught the people. 
(2 Chron. xvii. 7-9; xx. 19-22.) 

" When the children of Israel were settled in the promised 
land, and the Tabernacle fixed for long periods in the same 
place, the Levites were relieved of a very burdensome part 
of their labors, that of transporting the Tabernacle from place 
to place, so that there was no longer any necessity for them 
all being in attendance at the house of the Lord, and conse- 
quently they were formed into divisions, and waited on the 
priests in turn. 

" When disengaged at the sanctuary, the Levites resided in 
the Levitical cities, which were situated in all the tribal terri- 
tories, not however passing their time in mere recreation, but 
employing it in divers ways for the moral and spiritual welfare 
of the people. They read and explained the law, assisted the 
ciders in the different towns in the administration of justice, 
took charge of the cities of refuse, whither those who had 
sinned through ignorance fled for safety. Dwelling in the 
midst of every tribe, they were everywhere at hand to explain 
the law, instruct the ignorant, comfort the afflicted, shield the 
innocent, punish the guilty, and generally to guide the people 
in the way they should go. (Deut. xvii. 8-12 ; xxxiii. 10.) . . . 

" Many of the priests and Levites, no doubt, performed their 
duties to God and man so as to glorify the one and benefit the 
other, and thereby 'purchased to themselves a good degree.' 
And having, through the shadows of the old dispensation, led 
many an Israelite to look to the substance — Christ, the one great 
rifice — they are now among the saints in glory, and shall 
shine as the stars for ever and ever. Others of the priests 
and Levites were not distinguished by that holiness which 
1- came their office; and at the time of our Saviour's advent, 
few, very few, were to be found executing the duties of their 
office with clean hands and a pure heart. But, blessed be 
God, there were still to be found, even then, some who walked 
in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blame- 
\\ th all their sins and shortcomings the tribe of Levi, 



up to the time of our Saviour, were the custodiers of the 
Scriptures, which they read and explained in the synagogues, 
and thus were instrumental in keeping alive, however faintly, a 
knowledge of the true God, so that, with all their defects, this 
tribe was of signal service to the nation. By this wise sepa- 
ration of it to God, the light of true religion was kept burning 
amidst surrounding darkness ; the ritual services of the Taber- 
nacle and Temple attended to ; and at least a remnant was 
ever found, even in the worst times, to worship God in the 
beauty of holiness, and to magnify and declare His great 
name. 

" God has, in the gospel dispensation, made provision for 
making known His will, instructing His people, and wafting 
the glad tidings of salvation — not to one nation only, but to 
all nations, and peoples, and tongues. But He has not seen 
meet under this, as under the old economy, to choose a par- 
ticular tribe as His ministering servants in accomplishing 
these great ends ; for while He has given pastors to His 
Church, He has also appointed all believers New Testament 
Levites, and separated them from the rest of the world unto 
Himself. He calls upon them all to dedicate themselves to 
His service. 

" The Levites, when not on duty at the sanctuary, were 
scattered up and down the whole land, and thus became 
centres of light from which religious knowledge was diffused ; 
but Christ's followers are scattered through all lands, shining 
as lights in the world, and by the grace of God hastening on 
the bright era of the millennium glory when all people will 
walk and rejoice in the light of Jacob. 

" 'The beam that shines from Sion hill 
Shall lighten ev'ry land.' 

" If you have believed in Jesus, and would remain His dis- 
ciple, you cannot escape His service. He claims you as really 
as He did the first-born Israelites ; nay, He has stronger 
claims on you than he had on them. He spared them from 
the stroke of the angel of death, but He died on the cross 
that you might live for ever. 

"Do you then feel the paramount claims He has upon 
you ? Do you court rather than shun His service ? And are 
you often asking, ' Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do?' 
If so, then you are doubtless already in harness, and aiding 
on the great work of building up the New Testament Church. 
Work on, whether in instructing little ones in the Sunday- 
school, as tract distributors, or in any other way God in His 
providence has opened up to you. God speed your efforts to 
advance the kingdom of His dear son. . . . Wherever you 
are, at home or abroad, in the midst of saints or sinners, at all 
places and at all times, seek to adorn the doctrine of God our 
Saviour, by a walk and a conversation becoming the gospel. 
The Levites, remember, were centres of light! You are also 
called upon to ' Let your light shine.' 'Arise, shine.' ' Shine 
ye as lights in the world.' " 



FORTY YEARS' PILGRIMAGE OF ANCIENT ISRAEL 



FROM 



EGYPTIAN BONDAGE TO THE PROMISED LAND. 



A night much to be remembered was that when the 
Israelites left Egypt. A terrible panic seized the Egyptians 
when the eldest son was found dead in every house. Under 
the excitement, the Israelites were allowed to leave the land 
of bondage, laden with jewels and other articles of value, 
which they had previously borrowed, or rather asked, and re- 
ceived willingly from their oppressors. Going before them in 
a miraculous pillar of smoke and flame, God leads them from 
Rameses to Succoth, thence to Etham, on the edge of the 
wilderness, and thence to Pi-ha-hiroth, near the shores of the 
Red Sea. On the third day they are terrified to observe 
Pharaoh, with an army, chiefly of chariots and chariot-war- 
riors, close upon their rear. Their exact situation cannot be 
ascertained, but probably they were a few miles south from 
Suez, shut in by mountains on each side ; the Gulf of Suez, 
some six or eight miles broad, in front, and the Egyptian 
army behind. The terror and anxiety of the host of Israel 
are at their height, when slowly and majestically the pillar of 
cloud and fire that had gone before them moves to their rear, 
and throws a screen between them and their pursuers. A 
miraculous power imparted during the night to a strong east 
wind, causes it to lay bare a passage across the Gulf, wide 
enough for the whole host to cross. The fiery column sheds 
its glare before them, and guides them safely to the further 
shore. Tempted, amid the darkness of night, to follow them, 
Pharaoh and all his host are caught and overwhelmed in the 
returning waters. Israel's bondage is over; the oppressor's 
yoke is broken ; the people of the Lord are free. 

Alas ! a worse yoke is upon the neck of every human 
being. By nature we are all the children of wrath, and in the 
thralls of Satan. The world itself is one vast house of 
bondage, and its different inhabitants the slaves of divers lusts 
and passions. We are all fallen into captivity and servitude, 
and Gold, Ambition, Appetite, are the slave-owners. Woful 
is the bondage where the higher nature is in thraldom to the 
lower. Christ only can break the yoke and let the oppressed 
go free. And in the deliverance of Israel the great work of 
redemption is symbolized, and sinners are pointed to One who 
can free them from a worse tyrant and taskmaster than 
Pharaoh and the Egyptians. 

It is a fresh April morning. Three millions of people line 
the shores and crowd the heights on the Sinai side of the 
Gulf of Suez, I [ere, at the water-edge, may be seen groups 
of men and women, watching the rolling tide as it casts 
heavily on the beach the ghastly corpses of the Egyptian 



warriors — perhaps stripping them of their rings and necklaces, 
and the weapons which are yet grasped in their bleached and 
bloodless hands. Yonder, where the rock juts out into the 
sea, are clusters of children gathering the rich red sea-weed, 
or the brilliant shells and corals, or watching the movements 
of the strange-looking creatures that roam among the pools. 
Away, dotted over the rocky heights, or in closer masses in 
the hollows between, are flocks of sheep, goats, oxen and 
camels, cropping the spare herbage of the desert, or making 
eager journeys in quest of water. Conspicuous above the 
encampment, and contrasting strikingly with the clear blue of 
the April sky, is the strange column that ever rolls up its 
wreaths of smoke and fire, as if in communication with 
heaven. An expression of happy freedom seems to sit on 
every face. One countenance, however, looks as though the 
spirit of composure and the spirit of anxiety were moulding 
it by turns. Others may be deeming their troubles past ; h> ■ 1 1 
that thoughtful, king-like man, with the eagle eye, and the 
mild expression, and the massive brow, knows that they a.c 
but beginning. 

Thus the Israelites commenced their wanderings in the 
wilderness. The Red Sea was behind and a trackless deserl 
before them, but God was their leader, and his cloudy banner 
floated in the sky, a waving pennant by day, and a flaming 
torch by night. Under Divine direction they took their 
course toward Sinai. They first went three days' journey 
down the eastern shore of the Red Sea, between the coast on 
the right and the mountainous ridge on the left, until they 
came to Marah. During this march they suffered fearfully 
from thirst. Let us not think lightly of their distress. The 
sensation we call thirst is no more like the mad and raging 
fever of the desert than our cool and verdant valleys are like 
the baked and blistering rocks of that burning wilderness- 
The vast host of men, women and children, with great herds 
of cattle, had to travel over the sand}- waste on foot, with the 
burning sun over their heads, and their sufferings were horri- 
ble. Look the individuals in the face ! They plod moodily, 
heavily on, no man speaking to his fellow. Many cannot 
speak if they would. Their tongues are parched and rough, 
and cling to the roofs of their mouths ; their lips are ! 
and shrivelled, and their eye-balls are red with heat, and 
sometimes a dimness comes over them which irakes them 
stagger and fall. Not one in that multitude but would part 
with limb or life for one cool draught o\ water. 

But, lo! their misery they think i^ past. In the distance 

13 



u 



FORTY YEARS' PILGRIMAGE OF ANCIENT ISRAEL. 



they behold trees and bushes, clad in refreshing green. There 
must be water near. With glad looks and quickened steps 
they push joyously on. What a rush to the water — what 
eagerness to gulp the refreshing flood ! Whence that uni- 
versal groan of horror and despair? The water is bitter, so 
bitter as to be loathsome even to their intense agony of thirst. 
Pity them ; but judge them not too severely, if in that awful 
moment of disappointment, with the waters of Marah before 
their faces, and the waters of the Nile before their thoughts, 
they tmtrmured and complained that they had been brought 
from unfailing waters to perish in that thirsty desolation. 

Their sin was pardoned, the waters healed, and they passed 
on to Elim, six miles further, where there were twelve wells 
of water, and threescore and ten palm trees. Their next 
encampment was in a valley by the Red Sea, on the edge of 
the Wilderness of Sin. This wilderness is memorable as the 
place where, in answer to their murmurings, the Israelites were, 
for the first time, miraculously fed with quails, to appease their 
lusting after the flesh-pots of Egypt. Here also they were 
first fed with manna, which they continued to eat for forty 
years, until they reached the land of promise, and ate of the 
corn of that land. 

They now entered the Wady Feiran, and penetrated into 
the inner and most mountainous part of the peninsula. 
Having halted at Alush and Dophkah, they reached Rcphi- 
dim, whence Moses went with the Elders to strike the rock in 
Horcb, and procure from it a supply of water. Tradition 
points out, as the rock which Moses struck, a large block of 
granite, some twenty feet in height, marked by several hori- 
zontal grooves, like mouths, such as might have been formed 
by the flowing of water. At Rcphidim they encountered and 
conquered the Amalckites — a tribe of Edomites, fired by the 
fiercest jealousy, on account of Jacob's seed having been pre- 
ferred to Esau's, who came upon their rear and annoyed the 
feeble and helpless of the host. Moses, with his hands sup- 
ported by Aaron and Hur, held his rod outstretched while 
this battle was going on, in token of dependence on the help 
of God. Here also occurred the visit of Jethro, the father-in- 
law of Moses, and the establishment of subordinate courts of 
justice, according to his advice. 

The next encampment was at Mount Sinai. Here the 
mountains assume that bold, tall and fearfully bare aspect, 
which gives to the district its peculiar character of majesty 
.Mid desolation. No one who has not seen them can conceive 
the ruggedness of these vast piles of granite rocks, rent into 
chasms, rounded into small summits, or splintered into count- 
s peaks, all in the wildest confusion, as they appear to the 
of an observer from any of the heights. We may ima- 
gine what a strange and solemn region it would be to Israel — 
ie away from the Nil'-, broad and overbrimming, to those 
ravines, down which nothing flowed but rivers of hot air; 
from th treel and tirring lanes of Goshen and Mem- 

thai listening iilence which seemed to awail the voice 
of thi Eternal, and tie i lofty peaks which,, relieved by no 



verdure, and interrupted by no life, carried the eye that rested 
on them straight up to heaven. If it be the perfection of a 
place of worship to have nothing to distract the mind, there 
could be nothing more stern and still than this inland soli- 
tude, with its granite pinnacles soaring up nine thousand feet 
into the firmament — an Alpine skeleton, a Tyrol or Savoy, 
with its forests and its snows torn off, and its lakes dried up — 
the ruins of a world. 

So awful was the sanctuary, so sublime the pulpit, to which 
Jehovah led his people, that they might hear his memorable 
sermon, and receive the statute-book of heaven. Here the 
law was given. The rules of eternal righteousness, which 
had been lying about the world, tossing along from age to 
age, without arrangement and without authority, were handed 
forth from heaven anew ; and clear beyond cavil, sufficiently 
compact for the smallest memory, and comprehensible by the 
feeblest understanding, they became to mankind a statute- 
book forever, direct from the presence of Infinite Majesty, and 
in the solemnities by which it was sanctioned, suggestive of 
that awful tribunal when it will reappear as the law by which 
the righteous Judge shall render to every man according to 
his deeds. 

Here the Tabernacle was set up — a peripatetic shrine, a 
cathedral that could be carried about, a temple of canvas and 
tapestry which accompanied Israel in their wanderings, and 
which sufficed as a visible centre of worship until such time 
as the waving tapestry solidified into carvings of cedar, and 
the badger skins were replaced by tall arcades of marble, and 
the tent had grown to a temple. The worship of the one 
living and true God there inaugurated now counts its adhe- 
rents by hundreds of millions, and includes all that is worth 
naming of the world's intelligence and civilization. All the 
inhabitants of Europe are monotheists. Save a few savage 
tribes, and a handful of Pagans from Asia, all the inhabitants 
of America are monotheists. Every Christian in the world is 
a monotheist ; so is every Jew; so is every Mussulman. To- 
day one-half the people upon the globe worship the God of 
Moses. • 

From Mount Sinai the course of the Israelites was for some 
distance nearly due north, down a broad valley which descends 
by a gradual slope from the tangled labyrinth of the Sinaitic 
group toward the crescent-shaped ridge of mountains, Et 
Tilu, which forms the lofty buttress of the great desert. They 
tarried for some time at Ilazeroth, ever memorable by reason 
of the envious sedition of Miriam and Aaron. In this neigh- 
borhood they were miraculously fed with quails for a whole 
month. From the plain of Ilazeroth they ascended one of 
the passes of the Tilu, to the broad plains of the desert above. 
From this position they must have turned their course in a 
northeasterly direction, toward the head of the Gulf, or ad- 
vanced northward across the desert, toward the land of 
Canaan. The latter route seemed to be distinctly mentioned 
by Moses in his recapitulation of their march through this 
great and terrible wilderness, as they came to Kadesh Barnca. 



WANDERINGS OF THE ISRAELITES. 




EXPLANATION OF MAP. 

Dr. Robinson's admirable maps, executed 
by Kiepert under Dr. Robinson's personal 
direction, afford tbe basis on which this and 
the map of Palestine are constructed. The 
plains on the south of Sinai arc represented 
in connection with that of Er Rabah, where, 
according to Dr. Robinson, the Israelites 
probably stood while the law was given ; tin* 
is done by simply modifying the plan of the 
Sinaitic group. 

The plain of Sebaiyeh is seen extending 
several miles on the south and east Sinai, 
offering a wider range for the hosts of I-ra.-l ; 
and this is assumed by Hitter and many others 
to have been the station of the Israelites 
when they received the law. 

The route and stations of the Israelites are 
quite conjectural after we leave Sinai. The 
track of the Israelites, as sketched by Dr. 
Robinson, is indicated by tbe continuous 
red line. 

The deviations from this route are indicated 
by the shorter— yellow lines 
The deviations are indicated on the supposi- 
tion that the children of Israel occupied the 
plains on the south of Sinai, and proceeded 
toward Beer-Sheba in a direct line across the 
desert to Kadesh-barnea. And after wander- 
ing thirty years in the desert, they are found 
in the deep valley below the Dead Sea, at 
another Kadesh-barnea. This supposes that 
there were two places named Kadesh-barnea 
—one on the western part of the great pla- 
teau of the desert, the other below the Red 
Sea, in the deep valley of Arabah. 

It is contended with earnestness and great 
force by Lepsius, that Mount Serbal, northwest 
from Sinai a day's journey, near the Desert 
of Sin, was the place where the law was 
riven. Though .inferior in height, Mount 
Serbal rises in lonelier and loftier grandeur 
to tbe observer than Sinai itself. About its 
base, watered by perennial streams, a charm- 
ing oasis of richest verdure spreads. On 
its rocky facings are formed mysterious 
Sinaitic inscriptions— the lingering records 
of a people whose language, religion and 
country are totally lost. Tbe probable route 
of the Israelites through the desert would lx> 
changed again by this theory of Lepsius, but 
we cannot well make Serbal conform to the 
conditions of the nan tive, u it stands with- 
out the group . f . v inai. 



V 






FORTY YEARS' PILGRIMAGE OF ANCIENT ISRAEL. 



15 



This outpost of Canaan, so remarkable in the history of the 
Exodus, we locate in the midst of this desert, fifty miles or 
less south of Beersheba. 

Disheartened by the report of the spies, the Israelites mur- 
mured and rebelled, and were sentenced to linger and die in 
the wilderness. Then relenting, they went up to fight with 
the Amalekites and Canaanites, and were discomfited, "even 
unto Hormah." From Hormah, at the command of God, 
they returned toward the east arm of the Red Sea, to wander 
forty years in the wilderness, until they should be consumed 
and die there for their rebellion against God. Of their subse- 
quent wanderings for thirty-eight years we know nothing. 
Eighteen stations are specified as occupied in this interval, 
but of these nothing is known. The Israelites, like the 
modern Bedouins, doubtless spent this time in roving up and 
down the Arabah, and over the vast desert of Paran, between 
Sinai and Palestine, according as they could find pasturage- 
and water. The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, is 
referred to this interval, but the date and place of this judg- 
ment are alike unknown. 

In the first month, April, they again returned to Kadesh, 
which they had left in the third or fourth month, almost 
thirty-eight years before. On their return to Kadesh, Miriam 
dies ; the people murmur for water ; Moses and Aaron bring 
water from the rocks, but, in doing this, sin against God, and 
receive sentence of death without seeing that good land be- 
yond Jordan, so long the object of their desire ; a passage is 
demanded through the land of Edom, and is refused. The 
Israelites then journeyed from Kadesh to Mount Hor, or 
Mosera, where Aaron died. While in this vicinity, they 
gained a signal victory over the Canaanites, by whom they 
had been repulsed on their previous attempt to go up into 
Palestine. 

Mount Hor is a high, rocky peak, in the mountains of 
Edom, east of the Arabah, and situated midway between the 
Dead Sea and the Arabah. It rises, in lone majesty, above 
the surrounding summits, and overlooks a boundless prospect 
of craggy cliffs, gloomy ravines, and lofty, barren deserts. 
The grandeur and sublimity of the scene from the summit 
of Mount Hor is forcibly sketched by Dr. Wilson, in the fol- 
lowing paragraph : "After the greatness and peril of the effort 
which we had been compelled to make, we should, in ordinary 
circumstances, have been elated with the success which we 
had experienced ; but the wild sublimity and grandeur and 
terror of the new and wonderful scene around and underneath 
us, overawed our souls. We were seated on the very throne, 
as it appeared to us, of desolation. Its own metropolis of 
broken and shattered and frowning heights — ruin piled upon 
ruin, and dark and devouring depth added to depth — lay on 
our right hand and on our left. To the rising sun. Mount 
Seir, the pride and glory of Edom, and the terror of its adver- 
saries, lay before us — smitten in its length and breadth by the 
hand of the Almighty stretched out against it — barren and 
most desolate, with its daughter, the ' city of the rock,' over- 



thrown and prostrate at its feet. To the west, we had the 
great and terrible wilderness, with its deserts and pits and 
droughts spread out before us, without any limit but its own 
vastness, and pronounced by God himself to be the very 
'shadow of death.' " Here Moses tuok Aaron and Eleazer, 
and went up into Mount I lor in the sight of all the con"Te' r a- 

x ° o to 

tion, where these venerable pilgrims took their last farewell of 
each other, and "Aaron died there in the top of the mount." 
A tomb has been erected to his memory on the summit, 
which has often been visited and described by modern 
travellers. 

From Mount Hor the Children of Israel passed along the 
Arabah, south to Ezion-Geber, at the head of the Eastern or 
Ailantic Gulf, which is several times denominated the Red 
Sea. Elath and Ezion-Geber were both situated at the head 
of this gulf. The latter afterward became famous as the port 
where Solomon, and after him Jehoshaphat, built fleets to 
carry on a commerce with Ophir. Here they turned east- 
ward, up the pass that leads to the high plain of the great 
eastern desert of Arabia. At this place a large defile corner 
down steeply from the northeast through the mountains, 
forming the main passage out of the great valley to this 
desert. The ascent of the Israelites was, doubtless, through 
this pass, when they departed from the Red Sea, and turned 
north to " compass Edom," and to pass on to Moab, and to 
the Jordan. It was at this point in their wanderings that " the 
people were much discouraged because of the way ; " and they 
were bitten by fiery serpents. Burckhardt informs us that 
this place is still infested by poisonous serpents, which are 
greatly feared by the inhabitants. 

The course of the Israelites now lay along the border of 
the eastern desert, back of Mount Seir, the Mountains of 
Edom. The Edomites, who had refused the Children of 
Israel a passage through their land from Kadesh, now suf- 
fered them to pass unmolested along their borders on the east, 
and even supplied them with provisions for their march. 
Nothing is known of the places mentioned in the interval 
until the Israelites arrived at the brook Zered, or Sared, a 
marshy valley which rises in the eastern desert, near the present 
route to Mecca, and, after a course of several miles to the 
west, discharges, in the rainy season, its waters through the 
southeastern shore of the Dead Sea. In the summer season 
the channel is dry. For some distance from the sea the 
channel of this brook is, like all similar valleys in this region, 
a deep and almost impassable gorge. This is the "brook of 
the wilderness " (Isa. xv. 7) ; and, according to Ritter, the 
"river of the wilderness." (Amos vi. 14.) It was the 
southern boundary of Moab. From this station the Children 
of Israel passed without molestation around Moab, on the 
borders of the desert, to the river Anion, twenty-five or thirty 
miles further north. They were now on the borders of the 
Ammonites, who, like the Moabites, had been reduced so as 
to retain a mere remnant of their former possessions. They 
seem, at this time, to have occupied the margin of the d< 



16 



FORTY YEARS' PILGRIMAGE OF ANCIENT ISRAEL. 



to the right of the Israelites. This portion of the desert east- 
ward bore the name of Kedemoth. 

The children of Israel now encountered a formidable foe in 
the Amorites, whom they conquered. From the station on 
the banks of the Anion to the plains of Moab, on the east of 
Jordan, opposite Jericho, the accounts of the intervening sta- 
tions seem to be contradictory. After the conquest of Sihon, 
the Israelites directed their forces against Og, the giant of 
Bashan, the capital of whose kingdom was Edrei, fifteen miles 
east of the northern extremity of the Sea of Galilee, and 
seventy-five from the plains of Moab. From Bashan the 
Israelites spread their conquests farther north, over all the 
region of the Sea of Galilee and the waters of Merom, as far 
as Mount Lebanon. The Moabites, well pleased with the 
subjugation of the Amorites, were still the foes of the Israel- 
ites. Though fearing to engage with them in open war, they 
called Balaam from beyond the Euphrates to curse these 
hated invaders (Numb, xxii., xxiii., xxiv.) ; but finding no 
enchantment to prevail against them, they succeeded by wiles, 
in harmony with their own incestuous origin, in bringing a 
plague upon the people, by which 24,000 perished. The 
Israelites lingered four or five months on the plains of Moab, 
over against Jericho, in full view of their future inheritance. 
During this time they had subdued their enemies before them, 
and Moses had written the book of Deuteronomy, recapitu- 
lating the blessings and the curses of their law, and recording 
his final exhortations and entreaties, in the full consciousness 
that his eventful life was advancing to a close. His last mili- 
tary act was to wage, by God's command, an exterminating war 
against the Midianites for their agency in enticing the Israel- 
ites into sin. In the dreadful carnage of this expedition, 
Balaam, the apostate prophet, was slain. 

And now nothing remained for the great leader to do but 
to pour out his heart before the people in lofty odes and elo- 
quent blessings, and then ascend the mountain and die. And 
never does Moses wear such an air of moral sublimity, as 
when we behold him leaving the camp and his beloved people, 
and climbing the summit, where, with the rock for his couch 
and the broad heaven for his roof, and far from all human 
companionship, he was to submit himself to the sentence: 
" Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." We can- 
not follow Moses in this mysterious journey. If the law- 
giver had received a rebuke, this was more than compensated 
by the peerles > distinction attending his exit. His humiliation 
only brought out more strikingly his real grandeur. Although 
the sentence shutting him out from Canaan was not literally 
reversed, its bitterness was greatly mitigated. From Nebo he 



looked down on the palm-trees of Jericho, close under his 
feet ; and from the warm valley through which the Jordan was 
gleaming, far across to yon boundless sea ; from Jezreel, with 
its waving corn, to Eshcol, with its luxuriant vines; from 
Bashan, with its kine, to Carmcl, with its rocks dropping 
honey ; from Lebanon, with its rampart of snow, south again 
to the dim edge of the desert ; and as he feasted his eyes 
upon the rich landscape of Canaan, its fountains and brooks 
and olives and vines, as what had so long been the land very 
far off, and what to the fretful host in the wilderness had 
seemed no better than a myth or a mirage ; as this splendid 
domain spread out, hill and valley, field and forest, in the 
bright garb of spring, the Lord said, " This is the land ! 
" This is the land which I sware unto Abraham and Isaac and 
Jacob, saying, I will give it to thy seed." But beautiful and 
overwhelming as it was, just then there began to rise on 
Moses' sight a still more wondrous scene. It was no longer 
the Jordan with its palms, but a river of water clear as crystal, 
and on either side of it a tree of life o'ercanopying. It was 
no longer Nebo's rocky summit, but a great white throne, and 
round it light inaccessible, and before him spread out a better 
land than the land of promise. " So Moses, the servant of 
the Lord, died." The spirit was gone home. Behind that 
countenance, still radiant with the beatific vision, no longer 
worked the busy brain, no longer went and came the mind 
which so long had conversed with God, and managed the 
affairs of the chosen people. Powerless is the hand which 
had swayed Jehovah's rod and split the sea asunder; and cold 
in its unconsciousness is that majestic presence before which 
proud Pharaoh learned to tremble. A corpse is all that now 
remains of the mighty prophet and law-giver, and there is no 
man there to bury him. But He who preserved his infant 
body amid the bulrushes, takes charge now of his lifeless 
remains. Those hands which had taken the law from God, 
those eyes which had seen His presence, those lips which had 
conversed with the Almighty, that face which had been irra- 
diated with the beams of heavenly glory, must not be 
neglected, though the soul is gone. " The Lord buried him 
in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor." 

Upon the death of Moses, Joshua, now in his eighty-fifth 
year, assumed the command of the people, sent spies into 
Jericho, crossed the Jordan, fortified a camp at Gilgal, circum- 
cised the people, and kept the passovcr ; then pressed forward 
to the conquest of the Canaanitcs, and soon was master of 
the greater part of Palestine. He died at the age of one 
hundred and ten years, and was buried in his own city, Tim- 
nath-scrah. 



JERUSALEM. 



The situation of Jerusalem is very remarkable. It stands 
upon an upland ridge about 2200 feet above the level of the 
Mediterranean, and 3500 feet above that of the Dead Sea. 
The town is surrounded on three sides by steep, rocky 
ravines, the valley of Jehoshaphat on the east, and the val- 
leys of Gihon and Hinnom on the west and south. These 
ravines are shaped somewhat like a horse-shoe, the open 
part being towards the northwest. The city itself, lying 
within the horse-shoe, spread ultimately over four hills or 
heights, called Zion, Moriah, Acra, and Bezetha. The chief 
of these hills was Zion; it lay, so to speak, in the western 
bend of the horse-shoe. In David's time the whole town 
lay on its northern slope. Additions were made at subse- 
quent times. Between the hills ran valleys, the chief of 
which was called by the Romans the Tyropceon ; but the 
seventeen great sieges of Jerusalem have caused many of 
these valleys to be filled up with rubbish, and internally the 
city now is very much changed from what it must have been. 
On all sides the neighboring mountains rise somewhat above 
the city, verifying the simile of the psalm, " As the mountains 
are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His 
people from henceforth even forever." The most celebrated 
of the hills that thus environ the sacred city is Mount Olivet. 
It stretches away to the northeast, in the form of a ridge with 
several summits, rising to the height of 400 feet above the 
valley of Jehoshaphat, and 2500 above the level of the 
Mediterranean. South of Olivet is the Hill of Offense; so 
called because believed to be that on which Solomon built 
shrines to Chemosh and Moloch. The Hill of Evil Counsel 
is opposite Mount Zion, having its name from the circum- 
stance that here, in the country-house of Caiaphas, the priests 
and elders took counsel to put Jesus to death. Mount 
Gihon guards the city on the west, and Mount Scopus on the 
north. The brook Kidron runs, or rather ran, through the 
valley of Jehoshaphat, passing the Garden of Gethsemane 
near the road to the Mount of Olives and Bethany. 

Mount Zion is far the most conspicuous of the hills on 
which Jerusalem is built. It rises abruptly to the height of 
nearly 300 feet from the valley of Hinnom, sloping down 
more gradually " on the sides of the north," where lay the city 
of the Great King. It was a place of remarkable strength, so 
that the tabernacle, the palace of David, and the other buildings 
that stood on it were remarkably secure. (Ps. xlviii.) Part of 
the hill is now under regular cultivation ; thus verifying 
Micah's prophecy, that Zion should be "ploughed as afield." 

The view of Jerusalem from some of the neighboring 
heights is apt to disappoint the traveller; but from the 
Mount of Olives it is exceedingly striking. When seen from 
that point, the hill of Zion justifies the admiring exclamation 
of the Psalmist, " Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole 



earth, is Mount Zion." Although the size of Jerusalem was 
not very great, its situation, on the brink of rugged hills, 
encircled by deep and wild valleys, bounded by eminences 
whose sides were covered with groves and gardens, added to 
its numerous towers and temples, must have given it a singular 
and gloomy magnificence, scarcely possessed by any other 
city in the world. It is true, the ancient city beloved by God 
has now disappeared, and with it all the hallowed spots once 
contained within its walls. Yet the face of nature still 
endures ; the rocks, mountains, lakes and valleys are still 
unchanged, save that loneliness and wildness are now where 
once were luxury and every joy; and though their glory is 
departed, a high and mournful beauty still rests on many of 
their settled scenes. Amidst them a stranger will ever 
delight to wander ; for there his imagination will seldom 
be in fault : the naked mountain, the untrodden plain, and 
the voiceless shore will kindle into life around him, and his 
every step be filled with those deeds through which guilt 
and sorrow passed away, and life and immortality were 
brought to light. 

No human being could be disappointed who first saw 
Jerusalem from the east. The beauty consists in this, that 
you then burst at once on the two great ravines which cut 
the city off from the surrounding table- land, and that then 
only you have a complete view of the Mosque of Omar. 
The other buildings of Jerusalem which emerge from the 
mass of gray ruin and white stones are few, and for the most 
part unattractive. What, however, these fail to effect, is in 
one instant effected by a glance at the Mosque of Omar. 
From whatever point that graceful dome, with its beautiful 
precinct, emerges to view, it at once dignifies the whole city. 
And when, from Olivet, or from the Governor's house, you 
see the platform on which it stands, it is a scene hardly to be 
surpassed. 

The Jews have a custom singularly expressive and touch- 
ing, one equally in harmony with the mournful associations 
which cluster around the holy city. At the foot of the 
western enclosure of the temple mount, where the walls 
tower to the height of sixty feet, are evident indications that 
the large stones at the base are the identical remains of the 
ancient wall of Solomon's temple. This portion of the wall 
they denominate the " mourning wall." It is visited by every 
Israelite on each feast and festival, and on even- Friday after- 
noon. Here, in confident yet mournful expectation of again 
treading these courts of the Lord, which have so long been 
profaned by the foot of the Mussulman, the Jews reverentially 
bow their heads and repeat their waitings together in a most 
plaintive dirge, rehearsing various portions of their sacred 
psalms and prophetic lyrics expressive of their confiding la- 
ment : " How long yet, O Lord ! O Lord our God, how long!" 

'7 



THE TRAVELS OF OUR LORD. 



We shall confine our attention to a few of the leading scenes 
of Christ's ministry, and try to throw upon his doings and 
discourses the light which is derived from the places and cir- 
cumstances with which they are associated. The earlier and 
greater part of Christ's public ministry was exercised in the 
neighborhood of the Sea of Galilee, as it was locally called ; 
or, in the more correct language of the Gentile writer, Luke, 
the Lake of Gennesaret. The first of all His miracles was 
performed at a village called Cana, in Galilee (now a ruin), 
where, by turning water into wine, Christ seemed to indicate 
his power to sweeten and increase the comforts of human life. 
Crossing eastwards from the hills of Galilee, the traveller 
reaches a plain, called the Plain of Hattin. Here stands the 
hill commonly called the Mountain of Beatitudes, and said to 
be that from which the Sermon on the Mount was delivered. 
It is a square hill, not above sixty feet high, with two sum- 
mits and a platform between them on which a multitude 
might find accommodation. From the top of this hill the Sea 
of Galilee is well seen. In Dr. Clarke's view, it is longer and 
finer than any of the lakes of Cumberland and Westmoreland, 
and only inferior to Loch Lomond in Scotland. In size, the 
lake is about thirteen miles long by six broad; but in the 
clearness of the Eastern atmosphere it looks smaller. What 
makes it unlike English lakes is its deep depression, which 
gives it something of the strange, unnatural character that 
belongs to the Dead Sea. On the east side the hills are flat, 
but on the north and west more varied and picturesque. 
Descending through the rocky walls which encompass it, the 
traveller meets with the thorn-tree and palm, and other pro- 
ducts of a tropical climate. A strip of level, sandy beach 
surrounds the lake, from which the hills ascend, usually in 
gentle grassy slopes, broken by abrupt precipitous cliffs, the 
bright oleander and other plants often forming a pleasant 
fringe along the shore. On the western side an abundant 
supply of springs give birth to a verdure and fertility not 
found in the eastern. 

At one part of the shore — at the northwest corner — the 
mountains recede, leaving a level, well-watered, fertile plain, 
five miles wide and six or seven long. This plain is the 
"land of Gennesaret," so closely identified with Christ's 
teaching and labors. Four springs pour their streams through 
it ; magnificent corn-fields show the riches of the soil, and 
along the lion: a thick jungle of thorn and oleander affords 
a home to a multitude of birds. In the days of our Lord the 
plain of Gennesaret was crowded with cities and villages. 
Here stood Capernaum and Chorazin, one of the Bethsaidas, 
M igdala, and many other places, the very sites of which can 
hardly be distingui hed. Besides land occupations, fishing 
was pro .it!i the greatest activity. The whole basin 

must have been a focus of life and energ) — the surface of the 
1 8 



lake constantly dotted with the white sails of vessels flying 
before the mountain gusts, as the beach sparkled with the 
houses and palaces, the synagogues and the temples of the 
Jewish or Roman inhabitants. It must have been an amazing 
contrast to the present deserted condition of the lake, where, 
in Dr. Robinson's time, a single boat was all that floated upon 
its waters. 

An earnest spirit, like that of Jesus, toiling amid such a 
teeming population, and constantly filled with the sense of its 
spiritual miseries, could not obtain necessary rest or retire- 
ment, except by quitting the locality and getting into quite 
another scene. The mountains round the Lake of Gennesaret, 
especially those to the east, afforded to Jesus suitable and 
easily reached places of repose. He had but to retire a few 
miles from the shore, or to cross to the hills on the other 
side of the lake, to find a region as still and solitary as his 
usual residence was active and bustling. Hence the frequent 
references to " the mountains," where he spent nights in 
prayer; and to the "desert places," where he called his disci- 
ples to rest, on the other side of the lake. An hour's walk or 
sail would at any time transport Him from the bustle and 
strife of the streets of Capernaum to the stillest wilds of the 
desert. 

It is to this spot, or its neighborhood, that we are to refer 
nearly all that is recorded of the life of Jesus to the end of 
the 1 8th chapter of Matthew. Yonder, a little way off, be- 
tween the projecting " horns of Hattin," He delivered the 
Sermon on the Mount, encouraged the poor in spirit, taught 
His followers to pray " Our Father," and spoke of the broad 
road and the narrow way. The objects around supplied Him 
with natural and apt illustrations. The tulips and anemones 
on the plain below suggested the image of the " lilies of the 
field ; " the numerous birds, in their bright and varied plu- 
mage, fluttering- over the thickets near the lake, that of the 
"fowls of the air;" the fields, the rocks, the sea, and the 
desert, had all their part in the appeal, "What man is there 
of you, whom, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 
or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? " Perhaps the 
great crowded highway passing between the cities, contrasted 
with some lonely mountain-path, suggested the image of the 
broad and the narrow way; while some stable edifice built on 
the rock, and some slender shed by the sandy bed of a winter 
torrent, may have furnished the closing image of the wise and 
foolish builders. 

Besides traversing several times the whole district of Galilee 
during His ministry, our Lord made some excursions to more 
distant places. On one of these occasions deeming it prudent, 
perhaps, to get beyond the jurisdiction of Herod, He came 
to the district of Phoenicia, " the coasts of Tyre and Sidon." 
Notwithstanding all the changes that had passed over it, Tyre 



TRAVELS OF OUR SAVIOUR. 




EXPLANATION OF MAP. 

Because the Scriptural accounts of our Lord's travel* 
we wanting in a careful mention of localities, thif 
map must be rather more conjectural than the othera. 
But though we may not? possess txact information, 
such a sketch is valuable in impressing our minds aj 
It doea with his unwearying labors and wonderful de- 
votion to his work of love. 

There is, unavoidably, some confusion in such a 
chart; yet if attention is given to the different colon, 
this map will help us in following him with reason- 
able correctness. 

We have recognized the latest chronology in fixing 
the dates four years before the common reckoning of 
the Christian era. 

By this map v e are shown our Saviour traversing 
the whole land : Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, from the 
wilderness on the south to the borders of Tyre, from 
the Mediterranean to the Jordan, everywhere in the 
fullest sympathy with the people ; touching them, re- 
proving them, healing them, loving them divinely 
by all means striving for their confidence, and hav- 
ing compassion for their weakness and unbelief. 

1. First, we may trace the earliest journey of Jesus 
to Jerusalem. In this journey he goes from Nazareth 
along the east side of Jordan to Bethabara, where he 
fa baptized by John, and crossing, passes below Jeri- 
cho, through the wilderness of Judea on to Jerusalem, 
A. D. 25. He returns through the wilderness to John 
at Bethabara, and thence upward to Cana and Caper- 
naum, following the western bank of the river, fast- 
ing Enon and Nazareth. 

2. Jesus goes to Jerusalem a second time, by the 
western route, §21, a. d. 26. He followed in this jour- 
ney the plains of Esdrelon and Sharon, and from Jem- 
ealem we follow him to Enon, near Shalem, back to 
Jerusalem, thence toward Galilee by the middle route. 
In this journey we find him at Jacob's well, §25, and 
at Sychar, the Shechem of the Old Testament He 
teaches in Galilee, §26, and returning by Cana and 
Nazareth, fixes his abode in Capernaum. 

3. There can be no certainty about the first circuit 
In Galilee, a. d. 27, but it extended "throughout all 
Galilee " (Mark i. 39), and justified the indications of 
the map. 

4. The third journey to Jerusalem, J 36, a. d. 27, wa» 
along the table land east of Jordan, through Bamoth 
Gilead to the fords near Jericho. Betuming, we fol- 
low him again along the middle lines of travel, across 
the fertile plains of Mamre and Esdrelon, covered 
with fields of waving grain, where the disciples may 
have plucked On ears as they passed. 

6. This is another purely conjectural circuit, around 
Upper Galilee, §47, A. n. 27. 

6. The route indicates the excursion to the country 
of the Gadarenes, across the lako, §57, a. d. 27. 

7. This is the third circuit in Galilee, §62, A. D. 28. 
It passes through Nazareth, Shunem, the plain of 
Esdrelon, and Tiberias. In this circuit the twalvs 
were also sent to "supply his lack of service." 

8. A trip to the northeast coast of the Sea of Galilee 
to Bcthesda, §64, a. d. 28. 

9. Tho fourth circuit in Galileo, §6S, a. n. 28. In 
this circuit Jesus passes over a wide range, throngh 
Screpta, Tyre, Zidon, and the neighborhood of De- 
capolis beyond Jordan. 

10. Tho fifth circuit in Galilee, §73, A. D. 28. H» 
goes northeast of the' Sea to Bcthesda and to Cseaarea 
Phillppi. 

11. The fourth and final journey to Jerusalem, {81, 
a. n. 28, along the middle route, on which journey 
be cleansed the ten lopers at Samaria. 

12. He makes a Journey to Bethabara and returns to 
Bethany, called bj the SmSb of Lazarus, §91, a. t>. 2fr 

Lastly, Ho makes the circuit to Ephraim, the valley 
of Jordan and Pcrwa, § 92, a. ». 28. 



THE TRAVELS OF OUR LORD. 



19 



was still a strong citadel and a flourishing port; eclipsed j 
partly by the Greek mercantile cities, but still carrying on 
much of that busy traffic which, in the days of the prophets, 
had made its merchants princes and its traffickers the honor- 
able of the earth. Regarding Christ's emotions in connection 
with this remarkable country, we have but a single hint. He 
seems to have found a greater susceptibility to right impres- 
sions among the people there than in His own country ; so 
that, when He reproved Chorazin and Bethsaida for their 
impenitence, He added the remarkable testimony, " If the 
mighty works which were done in you had been done in 
Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sack- 
cloth and ashes." The only incident recorded in connection 
with Christ's visit to this place is the cure of the daughter 
of the Syro-Phcenician woman. By His mercy to her He 
showed that even the once doomed and banned descendants 
of Canaan were not excluded from the sphere of His love 
and the reach of His blessings. 

Another of Christ's more distant excursions was to the 
region of Caesarea Philippi, near the sources of the Jordan. 
This Caesarea was formerly called Paneas ; it had just been 
repaired by the tetrarch Philip, and named Caesarea after the 
emperor, Tiberius Caesar, and Philippi after himself. It was 
situated at the foot of Mount Hermon, at the entrance to the 
noble valley between the ridges of Lebanon and Anti- Leba- 
non. It was but a few miles from Dan, the most northerly 
city of Palestine in former times, and the shrine of Jeroboam's 
idolatrous calves. When the Macedonians obtained posses- 
sion of the country, they built at this place a shrine for Pan, 
the god of shepherds ; whence the old name of the place, 
Paneas, and the present one, Banias, have come. In a pre- 
cipitous face of the rock is a large dim grotto, with a niche, 
empty now, but formerly containing the statue of Pan ; and 
other niches, which were the shrines of the nymphs. 

It seems to have been during this visit to Caesarea Philippi 
that the Transfiguration took place. And certainly the lofty 
summit of Hermon is far more likely to have been the scene 
of that wonderful event than the humble eminence of Mount 
Tabor. It is impossible to look up from the plain to the 
towering peaks of Hermon — almost the only mountain which 
deserves the name in Palestine — and not be struck with its 
appropriateness to the scene. That magnificent height, 
mingling with all the views of Palestine from Shechem up- 
wards, though often alluded to as the northern barrier of the 
Holy Land, is connected with no historical event in the Old 
or New Testament. Yet this fact of its rising high above all 
the other hills of Palestine, and of its setting the last limit to 
the wanderings of Him who was sent only to the lost sheep 
of the house of Israel, falls in with the supposition which the 
words inevitably force on us. High up on its southern slopes 
there must be many a point where the disciples could be 
taken apart by themselves. Even the transient comparison 
of the celestial splendor with the snow, where alone it could 
be seen in Palestine, should not, perhaps, be wholly over- 



looked. At any rate, the remote heights above the sources 
of the Jordan witnessed the moment when — His work in His 
own peculiar sphere being ended— He set His face for the last 
time to go up to Jerusalem. During our Lord's residence at 
Capernaum, besides itinerating several times over Galilee, and 
making occasional excursions to more distant places, such as 
Sidon and Caesarea, He went up, year by year, to Jerusalem, 
to attend the festivals. Both in going and returning "He 
must needs pass through Samaria," except when He preferred 
the route through the plain of Jordan, when Jericho would 
lie in His way. The most memorable occasion of His passing 
through Samaria was the time when He met with the woman 
at Jacob's well, near Sycher — the ancient Shechem. 

The imagery of our Lord's teaching in Galilee had been 
drawn mainly from fishing and corn-fields. In Judea and the 
neighborhood of Jerusalem, vines and vineyards become the 
prominent figures. For still, as in the days of Isaiah, the 
"inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah," dwelling, 
as they did, " in a very fruitful hill," " binding their foal unto 
the vine and their ass's colt unto the choice vine," were most 
accessible to illustrations drawn from their staple employment. 
The parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Matt. xx. 1) ; that 
of the father and the two sons whom he sent to work in his 
vineyard (xxi. 28); that of the householder and the wicked 
husbandman to whom he let his vineyard (xxi. 33); and that 
of the true vine (John xv. 1 ), were all spoken either at 
Jerusalem or in its neighborhood. During the earlier visits 
of Christ to Jerusalem, He held His memorable conversation 
with Nicodemus; He cured the impotent man at the pool of 
Bethesda, and performed other miracles on the Sabbath ; 
thereby shocking the prejudices of the Pharisees, but indi- 
cating the true character of the Sabbath as a day of blessing 
and privilege to man ; He rescued and forgave the woman 
caught in adultery; welcomed publicans and sinners to salva- 
tion; and delivered the inimitable parables of the lost sheep, 
the lost piece of silver, and the prodigal son. 

It was on occasion of His visits to Jerusalem that the 
loving heart of Jesus began to know, in all its depth of 
bitterness, the sensation of being hated, cursed, blasphemed. 
Each successive contest with the Scribes and Pharisees, end- 
ing, as it always did, in the triumph of Christ's superior 
meekness and wisdom, only added fuel to the burning fire of 
their jealousy. But now also, as He became familiar with 
the bitterness of human hatred, He came to know better the 
joys of holy human friendship. In the sequestered village 
of Bethany — an hour's walk from Jerusalem — Jesus had dis- 
covered the family most congenial with His own human 
heart. The holy fellowship enjoyed at night, under their 
humble cottage-roof, ser\ed to alleviate the pain arising from 
the conflicts of the day. It was not less as an enduring 
monument to the congenial spirit of that family than as a 
proof of His own power that Jesus, on on : of I lis later v 
performed the stupendous miracle o\ raising Lazarus from 
the dead. 



20 



THE TRAVELS OF OUR LORD. 



On occasion of the last visit our Lord paid to Jerusalem 
before His death, He travelled by Jericho. (Lukexviii. 31-35.) 
He had left Galilee a short time before, and spent the interval 
in Peraea, on the opposite side of the Jordan. The usual 
place for crossing the river below the Lake of Tiberias was 
the ford at Beth-shan, where the Philistines had fastened to 
the wall the bodies of Saul and his sons on the fatal day of 
Mount Gilboa ; its ancient name had lately been exchanged 
for the Greek name Scythopolis, from an invasion of wild 
Scythian tribes that had taken place some time before. 
During Plis stay in Peraea, He seems to have stationed Him- 
self near the spot where He had been baptized by John. 
This spot may have possessed peculiar charms for Him. It 
marked the beginning of His public life on earth. Here He 
had declared His purpose to fulfil all righteousness, and here 
He had received wonderful testimony from on high, and the 
singular anointing of the Holy Spirit, descending visibly 
upon Him ; and from this spot Plis eye wandered over 
other places sacred to scenes full of precious significance. 
Among other memorable incidents that occurred here was 
the conversation with the mother of James and John about 
the chief places of honor in His kingdom. Close to this 
place, on the dark mountain-wall of Moab, was the height 
on which Moses yielded his spirit into the hands of God, and 
also the spot where the chariot of fire and horses of fire came 
for Elijah. Under thoughts of His own coming death-strug- 
gle, it would soothe Jesus to remember the words and tones 
in which these two prophets, a short time before, on the 
snowy heights of Mount Hermon, had prepared His mind for 
the decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 

At last the Passover drawing nigh, He and His disciples 
re-cross the Jordan, near the place where Joshua and the 
host of Israel had crossed it, and come to Jericho with its 
palm groves and fountains. The fame of Jesus has reached 
the place, and a great multitude has turned out to see Him. 
Two blind men by the wayside have raised their imploring 
voices, have received mercy, and are now feasting their won- 
dering eyes on the glories of nature. Aloft on the sycamore- 
tree Zaccheus, the rich publican, has taken his place, forgetful 
of his dignity in his eagerness to get a glimpse of the great 
Galilean, and little thinking how much closer fellowship he is 
that day to have with Him — how he is to give Him a twofold 
welcome as a guest in his house, and as a Saviour in his 
heart. The eagerness of Christian faith always lays a double 
offering on the altar of the Saviour. With the ardor of love 
is the earnestness of service. The delight of receiving Jesus 
is the declaration of self-renouncement. "O Christ! I accept 
Thee ! O Christ, accept me ! " are the confession and prayer 
of the penitent. 

Leaving Jericho, Jesus proceeds on His way, repeating to 
His audience the parable of the pounds, so forcibly conveying 
the great lessons of accountability which enter so vitally into 
all our relations, that parable which clothes the smallest 
advantage, the most inconsiderable capacity with all the 



solemnity of a divine gift in sacred trust. Climbing the 
steep mountain-passes, He traverses the scene of the parable 
of the good Samaritan, in which He impresses on human 
hearts the wonderful kindness of His own, and lifts their 
souls toward a realm of sympathy and tenderness more 
Divine than human, while He shows them the golden chain 
of brotherly obligation in which He binds His people ; at 
last He reaches the village of Bethany, where sweet thoughts 
of former times throng upon Plim, and every bough and bird 
and blossom tell of friends eager always with their love and 
hospitality — -where lingers yet the memory of His mighty 
power over death and tearful affection. Proceeding next day 
to Jerusalem, He is met by the great crowd from the city that 
have heard of Plis arrival, and rides in triumph over the 
palm-spread road — an accurate fulfilment of the words pro- 
nounced by Zechariah more than five hundred years before ; a 
singular triumph over the fears and prejudices of the people, 
which were soon again to arise and break forth in cruel 
denials and heartless accusations. The path leads first up 
the eastern side of Olivet, then down to Jerusalem on the 
west. As it passes over the ridge, Jerusalem suddenly bursts 
on the view like a thing of enchantment. Beholding the 
beloved city, the Saviour wept over it, and poured out His 
whole heart in the memorable lament : " If thou hadst 
known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which 
belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine 
eyes." 

Of the localities in the immediate neighborhood of Jeru- 
salem specially consecrated by the footsteps of Jesus, the 
Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane hold very 
distinguished places. The Mount of Olives is a long low 
ridge extending along the east side of the city, with three 
several summits. Its name was derived from the olive groves 
that probably flourished at one time in far greater luxuriance 
than now ; for it is only in one of the slopes that anything 
like an olive forest can now be seen, although scattering trees 
appear elsewhere. At the Jerusalem foot of Olivet, close to 
the brook Kidron and the valley of Jehoshaphat, lies the 
Garden of Gethsemane. It is a square of about 150 feet. 
" When we saw it in May," says Lieutenant Lynch, " the 
trees were in full bloom ; and altogether the garden, in its 
aspects and associations, was better calculated than any place 
I know to soothe a troubled spirit. Eight venerable trees, 
isolated from the smaller and less imposing ones which 
skirt the pass of the Mount of Olives, form a consecrated 
grove, whose deep shadows blending darkly entertain our 
meditations of the scene of anguish. It seems a fitting sanc- 
tuary for such sorrow. It reminds us of the sequestered 
walks of the garden which were all radiant with the bright- 
ness of love divine until the brow of God darkened on man's 
sin. In this darkened bower Christ suffered in redemption of 
the Paradise lost by man." 

The Son of man had now all but accomplished the work 
given Him to do. He had shown a spotless example of all 



THE TRAVELS OF OUR LORD. 



21 



excellence as a man ; and in that holy human life had 
exhibited the image of the invisible God. He had estab- 
lished His claims to the Messiahship, had fulfilled Old Testa- 
ment prophecies and types, wrought miracles, performed acts 
of beneficence, and uttered words of divine power and sweet- 
ness that showed clearly that He came from God. He had 
vindicated the law and the prophets from the perversions of 
the rabbins ; had demonstrated that all true goodness must 
come from the heart ; had shown that a renewed will and a 
pure life are the only real evidence of a right state with God; 
and had denounced, in withering words that could never be 
forgotten, the hollow hypocrisy and pretentious formality of 
the leading religionist's 'of the day. He had shown that a 
spiritual homage is the only acceptable worship of God ; and 
had encouraged His followers to render that worship by 
revealing God's fatherly character and great love even for his 
lost and fallen children. While thus raising the standard of 
holy living, He had revealed Himself in His divine nature as 
the Life of men ; and under such emblems as the Living 
Bread, the Living Water, and the True Vine, had taught 
them where to find the inward strength required for their 
duty. In His conversation with Nicodemus — one of the 
earliest on record — He had unfolded the grand gospel doc- 
trines : Ruin by Sin, Regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and 
Reconciliation by the sacrifice of Himself. Tt now only 
remained, by His sacrifice on the cross, to complete that 
redemption which Messiah was to achieve ; to grapple with 
the last enemy, and by conquering Death show clearly that 
He was, as He had sail, the Resurrection and the Life. 

It is the last evening of His mortal life. Night has now 
fallen, and the Master and His little band seek quiet beyond 
the walls of the crowded city. They have passed the brook 
Kidron ; eight of them linger in the valley, while Peter, 
James and John accompany Him into Gethsemane. Stretched 
on the bare ground, under the gnarled and twisted olives, the 
struggle of His great agony comes on. Not even that 
heavenly Helper, whose white form the disciples see gliding 
through the gloom of the night, has been able to remove His 
terror. He who has so often said, " Fear not," now seems 
given up to fear. But at last tranquillity returns. And now 
the glare of torches is seen across the Kidron. Nearer the 
din of rough voices is heard. With noisy progress they 
make straight for Gethsemane, for Judas knows the place. 
The traitor's kiss is given to the Saviour; He surrenders 
Himself without resistance; His disciples fly; alone and 
helpless He goes back a prisoner to the city. He is con- 
ducted to the house of Annas, who sends Him bound to 
Caiaphas. In his palace the rest of the night is spent. Early 
next day the Sanhedrim assemble, with the chief priests and 
scribes, and find Jesus guilty of a capital offence. But they 
have not the power of inflicting death ; the Roman governor 
must therefore confirm their sentence, so they lead Him to 
the Praetorium, or judgment-hall of Pilate. An unexpected 
obstacle t& their scheme here presents itself. The unscrupu- 



lous Roman governor has become strangely scrupulous, and 
is most unwilling to condemn this extraordinary Prisoner. 
As the day wears on, he occupies hour after hour in attempts 
to release Him; for a strange impression has laid hold of him 
that this Jesus is not an ordinary criminal, and that to give 
Him up to death would be an unpardonable crime. Hearing 
that He is a Galilean, he sends Him to Herod, who is at 
Jerusalem attending the feast; and Herod, after examining 
Him, sends Him back to the perplexed and hesitating Pilate. 
But at last a skilful appeal to the fears of the governor 
settles the question. He knows how precarious is his hold 
of office; and when the cry gets up, " If thou let this man go, 
thou are not Caesar's friend," he has no longer courage to 
resist. Jesus is delivered to be crucified, and is led away to 
Calvary. At Calvary, or rather Golgotha, the Roman punish- 
ment of crucifixion is inflicted on Him. The typical prophecy 
of the brazen serpent — " lifted up " — is fulfilled, as well as 
that of the paschal lamb — " a bone cf Him shall not be 
broken." Had the Jewish punishment of stoning been in- 
flicted, such would not have been the case. Over His head 
the words, " Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews," are 
placed, in Hebrew, Greek and Latin ; for all three languages 
are now spoken in Jerusalem. After hours of protracted 
misery the sufferings of Jesus come at last to an end. The 
Prince of Life bows His head and gives up the ghost. 
Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrim, goes to 
Pilate and begs the body ; and Nicodemus brings a great 
load of myrrh and aloes, and wraps them in a linen cloth 
around the corpse. As the hour of sunset, when the Jewish 
Sabbath commenced, is now drawing on, the body is hastily 
placed in Joseph's tomb, in the adjacent garden. And Jesus, 
having finished the great work of Redemption, rests in His 
grave till the morning of the third day. 

The next day is the Sabbath. It brings no relief to the 
staggering faith of the disciples. This whole day Jesus rests 
in the sepulchre. But the early light of the following morning 
shows His empty tomb, and the risen Saviour reveals Him- 
self to some of His apostles and followers. One week after 
He shows Himself to them again at Jerusalem, and rebukes 
and removes the unbelief of Thomas. A mountain in Gali- 
lee having been appointed as a place of meeting, the apostles 
return to their native province. There, first on the shore of 
the lake so familiar to them all, He joins the eleven, dines 
with them on part of the miraculous draught of fishes, and 
puts to Peter the threefold question, " Lovest thou Me?" 
Afterwards, on the appointed mountain, He shows Himself 
to all His Galilean disciples, upwards of five hundred in num- 
ber. Last of all, He again meets the eleven at Jerusalem ; 
and when He had crossed for the last time the Mount of 
Olives, and come to the well-known village of Bethany, it 
came to pass, that, as He blessed them, He was parted from 
them, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. His 
work on earth was done ; and the crucified outcast of Galilee 
" forever sat down on the right hand of God." 



THE TRAVELS OF ST. PAUL. 



The missionary labors of Paul occupied a period of thirty- 
five years, from A. D. 33 to 68. They began at Damascus, 
where, upon his conversion, Paul straightway in the syna- 
gogues preached that Jesus was the Son of God. After a 
kw days he went out into unknown regions of Arabia, in 
fulfilment of his apostolic mission. Then, returning to 
Damascus, he narrowly escaped assassination, and went 
from there to Jerusalem. Finding himself distrusted by the 
Christians, whom he had formerly persecuted, he retired to 
Tarsus, his native city, in Cilicia. Here he remained in 
obscurity till Barnabas came for him and took him to Antioch 
to assist in a revival there. This city for " a whole year " 
was the scene of Paul's ministry, and for many years the 
centre of his missionary operations. Embarking at Seleucia, 
Paul went with Barnabas to the island of Cyprus. At the 
two extremities of the island, Salamis and Paphos, the gospel 
was preached ; and at the latter place, Sergius Paulus, the 
Roman governor, became a convert. A Jewish sorcerer 
named Bar-Jesus, or, in Greek, Elymas, made a vehement 
effort to withstand the apostles, and prevent the conversion 
of the governor. The contest with this sorcerer was Paul's 
first great battle. Full of faith and power, he rebuked his 
countryman in language of stunning intensity, and brought 
temporary blindness upon him. The effect on the mind of 
the governor was favorable ; he became a firm believer. 

Sailing from Cyprus, the apostles returned to the main- 
land, crossing the Pamphylian gulf, and going first to Perga, 
the chief town of Pamphylia. Here, Mark, who had accom- 
panied them hitherto, frightened probably in a moment of 
weak faith, when he learned that Paul and Barnabas meant 
to penetrate into the wilds of Pisidia, left them and returned 
to Jerusalem. At Perga they did not remain long, but 
climbing the mountain-passes that separate Pamphylia from 
the table-land or elevated plain of Pisidfa, reached Antioch, 
a city which was as much Roman in its composition as Perga 
was Greek. A commotion was raised, and the apostles had 
to quit the Pisidian Antioch, shaking the dust from their 
feet against their countrymen. Proceeding about ninety 
miles in an easterly direction, the apostles came to Iconium. 
This town, afterwards called Konieh, became celebrated in 
history as the cradle of the rising power of the conquering 
Turks. The elements of its population would be as fol- 
lows : a large number of frivolous Greeks ; some remains 
of a still older population ; a few Roman officials ; and an old 
colony of Jews. The same treatment was given to the 
apostles here as at Antioch, and they fled to the more rural 
villages of Derbe and Lystra. At Lystra the miraculous 
cure of a lame man caused them to be mistaken for Jupiter 
and Mercury. The fickle multitude, who had first proposed 
to worship the apostles, being stirred up by the Jews from 
22 



Antioch and Iconium, ended by stoning them. Paul was so 
hurt that he was left for dead. 

They now retraced their steps, and returned to confirm 
and comfort the churches which they had planted, amid 
the persecutions against which they had to struggle. The 
only new place they are said to have visited was Attalia, on 
the sea-coast of Pamphylia. From that port they sailed to 
the Syrian Antioch, where they rehearsed to the brethren 
the tidings of the success of the gospel among the Gentiles. 
It was resolved by the brethren at Antioch to send Paul 
and Barnabas and others to Jerusalem. In the course of 
their journey, the apostles passed through Phoenicia and 
Samaria, where the gospel had made great progress, and 
where many hearts were made glad by the tidings which 
they carried. At last they reached Jerusalem. It was now 
fifteen years since Paul's conversion, and fourteen since the 
first visit he had paid as a Christian to that city. The 
assembly was addressed by Peter, Paul, Barnabas and James. 
After the council, Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch, 
accompanied by Barsabas and Silas. Paul proposed to 
Barnabas that they should make a tour of inspection, 
visiting and watering the churches which they had formerly 
planted. An unhappy quarrel took place between them, 
occasioned by the desire of Barnabas to take his nephew 
Mark along with them, and Paul's want of thorough confi- 
dence in Mark, caused by his having left them in Pamphylia. 
As the two apostles could not agree, they took separate 
routes, Barnabas and Mark going to Cyprus, while Paul, 
accompanied by Silas, traversed a large portion of the 
provinces of Asia Minor. 

The first visits of Paul and Silas were paid to the districts 
of Syria and Cilicia, the provinces where Paul had labored 
and preached the gospel soon after his conversion. Doubt- 
less his native Tarsus was among the places which he now 
visited ; but no details have been preserved of his actings 
there. Next, striking' up in a northwesterly course, through 
one of the " gates " or passes of the Taurus, he returned to 
Derbe and Lystra. Great must have been his joy to find his 
young friend Timothy so strong in the grace that is in Christ 
Jesus, and so well reported of by the brethren both at Lystra 
and Iconium. It would be with mingled emotions of joy and 
sorrow that his grandmother and mother saw Timothy depart 
with Paul and Silas. Striking into galatia, Paul entered on 
new ground, and came among quite a new race. The Gala- 
tians, as the first syllable of their name implies, were of 
Gallic origin ; four centuries before their ancestors had wor- 
shipped under the oaks of Gaul. They had been borne along 
in an emigration that at last brought them from the west of 
Europe to the west of Asia. 

After traversing Phrygia and Galatia, it would have been 



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THE TRAVELS OF ST. PAUL. 



23 



natural for Paul to direct his course to the great seaport of 
Ephesus, but " they were forbidden by the Holy Ghost to 
preach the word in Asia. " Bithynia, too, seemed closed 
against them. The only district to which they had access 
was Troas, which still preserved the immortal name of Troy. 
In a vision Paul heard a voice saying, " Come over into 
Macedonia and help us." That cry of distress was not to 
be disregarded. Next morning Paul and his companions, of 
whom the beloved physician Luke was now one, might be 
seen on the quay of Troas, eagerly inquiring for the first 
ship to Macedonia. The wind wafts them through the seas 
that bore, 500 years before, the magnificent armada of Xerxes. 
The story of the shepherd's sling and stone is again about 
to be realized. These four humble men in the Trojan ship 
are to accomplish what the millions of Xerxes failed to 
accomplish — conquer Greece and Europe too. The first 
campaign of the gospel of Jesus Christ in Europe was fought 
in Macedonia; Philippi, Thessalonica,. and Berea were the 
principal battle-fields. A woman in middle life, the head 
of a house— a girl possessed by a demon — and a cruel 
jailer, were among the persons first struck down at Philippi 
by the arrows of the King. 

From Philippi the apostle proceeded to Thessalonica, an 
important seaport, with a Jewish synagogue. From this 
busy place the holy fame of the new religion, which was 
embraced by many of the old Pagans, sounded out through 
all the neighboring districts of Macedonia on the north and 
Achaia on the south. But persecution drove Paul from 
Thessalonica, as it had driven him from Philippi. He took 
refuge in the provincial town of Berea, where, through the 
diligent study of the Scriptures, many Jews were converted, 
and also some of the principal Gentiles. The signs of 
another gathering storm led the brethren in haste to send 
Paul away, while Silas and Timothy remained at Berea. A 
ship bound for Athens conveyed the apostle from the shore, 
where Olympus, dark with woods, rises from the plain to 
the broad summit glittering with snow, which was the home 
of the Homeric gods. On three different spots Paul bore 
testimony to the truth at Athens. The first was the syna- 
gogue of the Jews ; the next was a more public platform — 
the Agora or market-place — the common meeting-place of 
the Athenians. Some of the philosophers who heard Paul 
here, wishing to listen to him in a quieter and more solemn 
place, took him to Areopagus, or Mars' Hill. Here he 
summoned the proud and haughty Stoic to repent of all his 
wickedness, and foretold the coming of a terrible day of 
retribution by God's Son ; of which the certain pledge 
had been given to all men, in that he had raised him from 
the dead. 

Paul had paid his visit to Athens alone ; but at Corinth, 
to which he next proceeded, he was joined by Silas and 
Timothy. Here Paul had great success. Crispus, the ruler 
of a synagogue, became a convert — a circumstance that 
must have caused great excitement. Yet Paul's spirit was 



burdened and depressed. That which distressed him was 
the bitter and blasphemous opposition to the truth which the 
Jews were ever exciting. But the Lord mercifully encouraged 
him in a vision, and for a year and a half he continued to 
labor at Corinth. It was now that he wrote his two epistles 
to the Thessalonians — the earliest of all his recorded letters. 
At last, having a strong desire to be present at one of the 
festivals at Jerusalem, he set sail for the holy city, taking 
Ephesus on his way. Promising to try to return to Ephesus, 
he went on to Jerusalem, and after his visit returned to 
Antioch, thus completing his second great missionary tour. 

The third missionary campaign of the apostle, during all 
of which he had Timothy for his companion, opened in 
Phrygia and Galatia, where he had been before. But the 
chief place to which his attention was directed in this tour 
was Ephesus. Sorcery or magic — an importation of the 
East — was exceedingly common. Diana, a goddess of the 
West, was the great object of worship; but the style of wor- 
ship had in it much of oriental mystery and magnificence. 
On leaving Ephesus, Paul first went to Troas, where he 
preached with great success ; then proceeded to Macedonia 
and the countries of Greece lying to the north. He seems at 
this time to have been in a dejected state of mind. At Phil- 
ippi he wrote the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. He was 
now actively engaged in a scheme for collecting money for 
the poor believers in Judaea, designed to show the good-will 
of the Gentiles, and to soften down the bitter feeling of the 
Jewish Church towards their uncircumcised brethren. Three 
months were then spent in Corinth ; and the Epistle to the 
Romans was written, and despatched by Phebe. 

Leaving Europe, Paul now directed his course to Jerusalem. 
He proceeded by sea, and his voyage was full of interest. 
After spending a week at Troas, taking a most affectionate 
farewell of the Ephesian Christians at Miletus, and touching 
at Coos, Rhodes and Patara, the apostle and his companions 
sailed to Tyre. A church had existed there since the perse- 
cution at the death of Stephen, and there were now not only 
Christians but prophets in what had once been a great strong- 
hold of Baal and Ashtaroth. Leaving Tyre, the party saluted 
the brethren at Ptolemais, and at length reached Caesarea. 
From that place, in opposition to the remonstrances of the 
Evangelist Philip and other friends, who dreaded the excited 
feelings of the Jews, Paul travelled to Jerusalem, where he 
was received kindly by James and the elders, and refreshed 
them by telling what God had been doing among the 
Gentiles. 

We can only refer in general terms to the occurrences that 
took place while Paul was in Palestine. The hatred towards 
him of that part of the Church which was leavened with the 
spirit of the Pharisees found a speedy outlet. On a false 
clamor being raised, he was beaten by the people in the 
temple ; rescued, however, by the Roman soldiers, and carried 
to the neighboring fort and barrack of Antonia ; there he was 
about to be put on the rack, but escaped the torture by 



24 



THE TRAVELS OF ST. PAUL. 



declaring himself a Roman citizen ; was tried before the 
Sanhedrim, as Stephen had been twenty-five years before, 
when he was himself a virulent persecutor; received in a 
vision a cheering promise of protection from God ; and a plot 
against his life being discovered, was sent, with a large 
escort, by night, to the Roman capital, Caesarea. The 
Roman governor, resident at Caesarea at this time, was Clau- 
dius Felix, an unscrupulous, sensual profligate, whose wife 
Drusilla was a daughter of Herod Agrippa I. On his first 
appearance before F"elix, Paul was remanded, under pretense 
of being tried again ; the next time, in presence of Drusilla, 
he made Felix tremble, as he reasoned of righteousness, 
temperance, and judgment to come; after that he was kept a 
prisoner at Caesarea for two years. At the end of that period 
Felix was recalled from Palestine, and Porcius Festus sent as 
governor in his room. Paul was now tried again, and on this 
occasion took his memorable appeal to Caesar. 

The record of Paul's voyage to Rome, in the twenty-seventh 
chapter of Acts, is remarkably interesting. The vessel, on 
leaving the great dock constructed by Herod at Caesarea, 
touched at Sidon ; then passing to the north of Cyprus, 
through the Gulfs of Cilicia and Pamphylia, afforded the 
apostle a view, probably his last, of his native mountains. 
At Myra, in Lycia, a ship was found chartered for Rome, to 
which the prisoners were transferred. After creeping along 
slowly as far as Cnidus, adverse winds forced the ship out of 
her direct course, compelling her to pass southward, under 
lee of the island of Crete, as far as the harbor called Fair 
Havens. After waiting long for a favorable breeze, the vessel 
set sail, but had not proceeded far when she was caught by a 
furious gale from the northeast. The crew seem to have 
turned round the right side of the vessel to the wind, and 
allowed her to be carried along, on the starboard tack, in a 
westerly direction. In the circumstances it is reckoned that 
she would drift at the rate of about a mile and a half in the 
hour. After a fortnight of discomfort and terror that can 
hardly be conceived, the sailors became sensible, one mid- 
night, that they were approaching land. The ship was 
immediately anchored astern, and daylight anxiously waited 
for. When it came, it was observed that a creek ran into the 
shore. Into this creek the vessel was attempted to be run ; 
but in the attempt her bow stuck fast in the bottom. Partly 
by swimming, and partly through the aid of boards and 
bro v ken pieces of the ship, all the passengers, who were two 
hundred and seventy-six in number, got safely to land. 

The island on which the ship was cast was Malta, now a 
part of the British possessions. The bay where the shipwreck 
occurred still bears the name of St. Paul ; and all the circum- 
stances of the shipwreck, as recorded in the Acts, agree 
wonderfully with existing appearances. The island was in- 
habited by a people of Phoenician origin. After spending 
three months among them, Paul and his companions em- 
barked in another vessel ; touched at Syracuse in Sicily ; 



had to wait at Rhegium for a favorable wind to carry them 
through the Straits of Messina ; and at last, after gazing on 
the smoking crater of Vesuvius and the lovely scenery of 
the Bay of Naples, landed at Puteoli. From this seaport 
to Rome, a distance of 150 miles, the apostle travelled by 
land. At Appii Forum, 50 miles from Rome, and again at 
the Three Taverns, deputations from the Christians of the 
city came to offer to the great apostle of the Gentiles the 
expression of their deep regard and affection. For two 
years he continued a prisoner, dwelling in his own lodging, 
but constantly chained to a Roman soldier. At last his trial 
came on ; most probably it was conducted in the immediate 
presence of Nero. It is from Paul's epistles we learn that 
he was set free. 

It is generally believed that from Rome he went to Asia 
Minor, and from that to Macedonia. He seems then to have 
gone to Spain, where he is thought to have spent two years. 
Returning to Ephesus, he found matters in a somewhat 
critical condition. In Crete, too, which he visited about this 
time, he found much cause for anxiety. False teachers were 
busy perverting the truth and sapping the foundations of 
Christianity. Paul had hoped to spend the winter at Nico- 
polis, in Macedonia; but he was not allowed to remain there. 
He was arrested on a new charge, and hurried to Rome to 
stand a second trial. Since he had been last at Rome, Nero 
had conducted himself in a very shameful way. More than 
half the city had been burned by an awful fire, which lasted 
for six days, and which some ascribe to Nero himself. The 
blame was laid by him upon the Christians, who were now an 
exceedingly numerous body. A frightful persecution raged 
against them. Some were crucified ; some disguised in the 
skins of beasts, and hunted to death with dogs ; some were 
wrapped in robes impregnated with inflammable materials, 
and set on fire at night, that they might serve to illuminate 
the circus of the Vatican and the gardens of Nero, where this 
diabolical monster exhibited the agonies of his victims to the 
public, and gloated over them. The number who perished 
was very great. Paul's privileges on his second confinement 
seem to have been much smaller than on his first. The 
Second Epistle to Timothy was now written by him, in the 
full expectation of being offered up. When brought to trial, 
in presence of a large number of leading men, he was enabled 
to make a bold statement of the gospel. But no defence 
could avail against the will of Nero. The apostle, on being 
called a second time, was condemned. Near the spot now 
occupied by the English cemetery, his head was struck from 
his body. Devout men carried the headless corpse to the 
catacombs, or subterranean vaults below Rome, to which in 
after times the martyrs used often to fly for concealment. 
There, in some unknown vault, rests the body of the greatest 
of the apostles, awaiting the fulfilment of the words so nobly 
applied by himself — " Death shall be swallowed up in 
victory." 







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